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You and I are hypocrites. Some of our closest global neighbors must think we are rotten to the core.

If you deny this, if you think everything is hunky-dory, I would pay close attention to your pants. They may be on fire. You are lying to yourself. Diversity is no longer in our blood and we are hurting.

I recently spoke to someone with dual citizenship in the United States and Switzerland. She said, "My country let me down."

She was referring to the United States, not Switzerland. Can you imagine any citizen saying that about the United States of America? Yes, we are not without sin, but we are supposed to be the epitome of what a free country should look like.

What is diversity? Consider this. The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I have been a citizen for over 80 years, and I never thought I would say that the inscription, at this moment in time, no longer reflects who we are. I’m sorry to say that the exact opposite is true.

We are, in every sense of the word, hypocrites, and, as my mother would occasionally tell me, "We ought to be ashamed of ourselves."

Our country has always centered on others. These include Native Americans, German Americans, Italian Americans, Mexican Americans, Polish Americans, Scandinavian Americans and more. This country has always been — and must continue to be — about others. Why? That’s who we are.

We cherish the diversity in our roots and in the soul of our country. That is where we derive our strength; as we know, it hasn’t always been easy. Yet, we endured, learned from our mistakes, and built a better nation.

I just finished watching the movie "Race," which tells the story of track star Jesse Owens. Before the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Nazi Germany, as you know, intended to prevent Jews and Blacks from participating.

Diversity was anathema to the Nazi way of life. They felt threatened by diversity, as if the Jews and Blacks were somehow going to take over and destroy who they were.

After 9/11, this country made a significant turn toward creating a more perfect union. Despite this horrific act, which was meant to destroy us, we grew united. We recognized that each of us, regardless of color, possessed merit. We all needed to work together to restore faith in our country.

People around the world sought to help us in our time of need. Embracing our differences helped us become one nation, one global unit. We had become global citizens. The victory did not belong to the terrorists. It was ours.

Contrast that situation with what is happening now. Are we working together? No, we are afraid someone might be listening. Do we welcome people? No, our borders are pretty much closed.

No "welcome" sign is hanging from the torch on the Statue of Liberty. Rather, it says "stay away."

What happened to our understanding of Diversity 101, where we learned to acknowledge differences and took steps to promote equity and ensure fair treatment for all, regardless of background?

The foundation of diversity states that we appreciate you regardless of skin color. We appreciate your language. We appreciate your cultural customs. We can all contribute to making the United States a more perfect union. Where is that nation?

I tell my Red Lake students they are fortunate to grow up in two distinct cultures. They are bicultural. They can thrive in both white culture and their Ojibwe culture. We should all take pride in welcoming diversity and understanding that knowing about other cultures strengthens us.

There is a movement in the United States that strikes at the heart of who we are as a nation. The movement seeks to eliminate diversity from our vocabulary, schools, laws, institutions of higher learning, and even our military. My goodness, we are even taking books off the shelves that celebrate diversity.

This is diabolically and morally wrong. Eliminating diversity doesn’t strengthen us; it weakens us. Eliminating diversity doesn’t make us better people; it makes us far worse. Let’s not wait for Nazi Germany to repeat itself. If we aren’t careful, it will.

We have all been blessed by diversity. That’s who we are as a country. Diversity is in our genes; diversity is in our blood. We need to heal ourselves and realize that diversity is good medicine.

Riddle: If mama bull, papa bull, and baby bull were in a pasture and baby bull got scared, who would baby bull run to? (Answer: There is no "mama bull." Be careful out there.)

We all need to keep the spotlight on our 100% graduation rate goal before it fades away.

John R. Eggers of Bemidji is a former university professor and area principal. He also is a writer and public speaker.