In a society that is polarized on seemingly every political issue, it is easy to lose sight of the once famous “American dream.” During his visit to St. Bonaventure, Dr. Andrew Roth, former interim president for St. Bonaventure University, worked to make this issue more tangible for students and bring more light and hope for the future of our divided nation.
The idea for Roth’s speech was sparked while he was interim president during the pivotal 2016 presidential election. Dr. Phillip Payne, history department chair and professor of history, realized the necessity for talk of the “American Story” due to the current political climate and subsequently invited Roth to speak during his class. This spiraled into a university-wide lecture, which was intended to help inform as many students as possible.
“We had started this discussion about this idea of ‘is there an American Story?’” said Payne. “Now it seems highly relevant. These are issues that need to be talked about and tackled.”
The short answer to the proposed question is that there is not one simplistic answer. Roth urged his audience to view America as a place where individuals matter, and every story contributes to the country’s “story.”
“There is really no one story,” said Roth. “It is a tapestry with multiple threads, and there are more important threads than others.”
Roth spent the majority of his lecture referencing the 1960s, 1968 specifically, and using this relation to show its effect on the country today. He made the connection to this era because of how much polarization occurred, but also how many positive changes impacted the United States. In the 1960s alone, there were eight political assassinations, two of which occurred in 1968.
These two assassinations, President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, devastated the nation and led to an increasingly hostile political climate. Despite how many issues this caused, significant positive alterations were still made to the country, most importantly the Civil Rights Acts and the Women’s Liberation movement.
Roth urged his listeners to see the connection from this decade to present day. Although the country may seem to be stagnant and constantly sullied by stark differences amongst politicians, Roth believes there is still good and that better conditions will transpire.
“The way to put it back together is to remember we are all in this together and to remember where we came from,” Roth said.
The light that can be seen in even the most polarized conditions are attributed by Roth to the deep roots that the United States has within its belief system.
“To be an American is not an ethnicity of blood and soil. We’re an ethnicity of all the people in the world. Being an American is a commitment to our founding beliefs,” Roth said. “We need to renew our commitment of our ever-expanding definition to the ‘we’ in our founding documents.”
Roth’s lecture helped students from all academic backgrounds gain a new perspective about current American politics and urged them to remain optimistic that the country will maintain its strength.
By Julia Schneider, Staff Writer
schneije18@bonaventure.edu
