We are entering a unique time in American history. We have entered a time where we have redefined the definition of what it means to have “rights.” “My rights” has become code language for “freedom from law.”

I stand amazed at what is happening in Arizona and the surrounding dialogue. It is symptomatic of our national psyche as a whole. Political correctness has Balkanized our country to such a degree that judicious laws that seek to protect the citizenry, and the sovereignty of our nation, are viewed as the real threats.

At the same time, those Hispanic groups that oppose immigration laws seem to demand that by virtue of their status as minorities they are no longer obligated to obey the laws of the land. The word racist, which they are so quick to use, has come to mean “your laws have no jurisdiction over me.” Hence, instead of being a country defined by the motto E Pluribus Unum, out of many one (or as someone has said, ‘we’re all in this together’), we have become a land where the phrase, ‘every man for his own group’ has become more accurate.

Of course, in a democratic society the citizenry has the “right” to oppose ideas they do not agree with. The significance of this latest debate, however, lies in the willingness of certain Hispanic groups to oppose the laws of the land while defining their opposition by their ethnicity, not by reasoned arguments of jurisprudence which upholds the rule of law. Groups of Hispanics are marching in Arizona, opposing American law while carrying Mexican flags. These same groups are attempting to take away the American Flag from white protestors on American soil!

This is no longer about Americans debating Americans. This has become a debate about who has the right to the land. The opposition groups are essentially declaring American law synonymous with white oppression. They demand nothing less that a free open borders where Mexicans (or any Hispanic from the Central Americas) are free to pour onto American soil without consequence. Americans (now a code word for race) must relinquish control of the boarder and recognize they have no right to its protection. If not, they can expect future belligerence and further polarization.

Such is the fruit of liberalism and its hand maiden political correctness. In order for this phase of our country to pass without shattering the integrity of the Union, Americans – of every stripe – must evaluate the historic achievement thus far in our history: that of successfully forging a peculiar culture where the many disparate groups have learned to live in peace as a single body politic. This means more than being proud of our heritage as Americans; it means showcasing the exceptionalism that is America.

The young, who protest as Mexicans on American soil, are a negative demonstration of that exceptinoalism; as such however, they are not able to grasp the historic significance of such an action – only in America! Lost is the memory of Tiananmen Square. Had these young people grown up in China and protested as citizens of Taiwan, they would be fertilizer by now! But until they, and all such like them, learn that America means Freedom and not race, they will only erode the foundation that gave them their right to protest in the first place.

Our boarders will become truly secure only when the people of this nation recognize the significance and privilege of what it means to be called an American. May it happen before that great name passes into history!