I was eating lunch with a high school friend recently at an Atlanta airport restaurant. He has worked in customs for eight years.
“Everyone working in this restaurant is from someplace else,” he said.
We were intrigued and started asking those in the busy restaurant their country of origin. Everyone we asked, and there were several, had moved to the United States within the last six years.
Many people could never imagine America changing as much as we have. Freedom allows for change, diversity, new ideas and people with completely different backgrounds.
Freedom doesn’t mean that we have to believe what others believe but it does mean we have to respect the liberty of those who believe it.
America is rapidly changing in her appearance. The White race is becoming the minority. African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos will eventually number in the majority. While Christians are still in the majority, fewer and fewer people go to church. Christianity is on the verge of being drowned out by other religious movements because they see America as their mission field.
Hindu, Islam, Buddhism and any religion that has funds to survive in America are permeating our nation. They are changing the landscape of what once was mostly comprised of Catholics and Protestants.
In the center of our changing country we have to remember one relevant fact. This is still the United States of America. We love our freedom. We love our country. We respect the rights of all our citizens who live and work peacefully in our country to make this their home and a good place.
I do not expect every American to look like me, talk like me, think like me or act like me. How boring would it be if we were all the same? We are all different. As other nations flood our country, the change is only going to accelerate.
I’ve had the joyous privilege of working with many different people from different countries. I have wonderful friends who are Black, White, rich and poor. They are from throughout the United States, and around the world. I would be sad to think that my life relationships would be limited to just a certain cultural group or segment of our population.
America will continue to grow more beautiful and stronger as people come legally and we embrace those who love our country and its opportunities. Those who come to our country must come legally and abide by the same laws every citizen abides by. As we work together we can continue to be the best place in the world.
(Glenn Mollette is an American columnist, author of American Issues and nine other books. You can hear him on XM radio each Sunday night at 8, EST, on XM radio 131. Like his facebook page at
