What does it mean to be an American? For most of our history, people who came to our shores joined a cultural melting pot, absorbed an understanding of American history and promise, assimilated into a national identity based on the blessings of freedom, and so evolved into one nation built from many contributing cultures.
E Pluribus Unum, “Out of Many, One,” was proposed by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to be part of the first Great Seal of the United States in 1776. At the time, it described the joining together of thirteen British colonies to form a new, independent nation. The Great Seal was officially adopted in 1782 by an Act of Congress.
Over time, E Pluribus Unum has reflected the successful assimilation of different cultures, nationalities, and socio-economic and religious backgrounds under the banner of a shared American culture. Until recently.
The cancer of Cultural Marxism, brought to our shores by members of the Frankfurt School (Germany) who took up residence at Columbia University in 1934, has metastasized throughout our American Republic. Broadly speaking, Cultural Marxism pits people against people, group against group, race against race, identity against identity, institution against institution, according to categories of the Oppressor versus the Oppressed in order to foment cultural revolution. Cultural Marxism is manifest in the teaching of Critical Race Theory, which parents of school-age children across the country are currently fighting.
Cultural Marxism is flipping E Pluribus Unum on its head and fracturing our national identity into endless divisions. It promotes “E Unum Pluribus” –Out of One, Many — the opposite of our nation’s proclaimed unified identity. It creates an environment that accentuates differences among people and encourages them to view each other according to categories imposed by political agitators.
Even Giant Food Stores are succumbing to the Cultural Marxism drumbeat. Stroll the aisles of your local Giant and you’ll see the shelf labels featured in this post. Is this how shoppers are supposed to identify products to purchase, by “identity” rather than by foodstuff?
I asked Giant Food Customer Care about the reason for this labeling and was told that the retailer was “committed to making it easier for customers to identify product attributes that are important to them by fostering a diverse and inclusive network of suppliers that reflects the unique backgrounds and experiences of our Giant family.”
So I followed up with a further inquiry, wanting to know when the retailer would start identifying products by: religious affiliation, sports preference, work experience, level of education, and family background and history. After all, don’t those “reflect the unique backgrounds and experiences of our Giant family?” I never received a reply.
When does the fracturing and dividing stop? When will our fellow Americans see each other as united again around the noble goal, “Out of Many, One?”
