Wisdom From HONY

By Sara Minogue Last updated Feb 9, 2016

This Oct. 2, 2013 photo shows photographer Brandon Stanton, creator of the Humans of New York blog, shooting a portrait along East 14th Street in New York. Stantons magical blend of portraits and poignant, pithy storytelling has earned HONY more than 2 million followers online. Now hes putting his work in a book, Humans of New York, due out Oct. 15 from St. Martins Press. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Photo Credit: vosizneias.com

“You should kiss the ground you walk on if you were born in this country (USA)… It is much more difficult to brainwash a population that is composed of so many different nationalities and so many different viewpoints” – Humans of New York, April 2014.

I found this quote on Facebook via the Humans of New York (HONY) page. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this publication, HONY is a photo- journalism Facebook page that documents residents of New York City that the photographer meets. The man who said these words is Jewish and, as he explains in the extended part of the quote, lived through a time when Jews had to wear the Star of David so that they could be recognized and discriminated against more easily.

Jews and other minority groups in the United States and all over the world have been discriminated against in a variety of ways. So why should we kiss the ground that we walk on if our national path contains so many cracks? Despite that fact that our constitution highlights the ideas of equality and justice, our country has had a long history of racism, sexism, religious prejudice, and more. With this in mind, it seems difficult to want to kiss this pavement.

Despite this aspect of its his- tory, the United States is also one of the few countries in the world that contains over 300 million citizens with international heritage. Our society is not perfect, but we still manage to live in harmony with so many different ideals without mass warfare. By living in this country, we are free. We are free to love who we want despite gender identity, race, and religion. We are free to learn whatever we want through news sources, social media and the uncensored Internet in general. Most importantly, we are free to be ourselves, in all senses of the word.

I believe this is what this native New Yorker meant when he said to start kissing the ground. Yes, as with all societies, we have our flaws. However, any society in which so many different mind- sets can live in harmony without mass warfare is incredible in it- self. Not every society is like this one; they all have their pros and cons. I am just grateful that our cracked societal path is cracked in a way that we can solve, and that the road continues to evolve as we move into the future.