Recently, a rabbi who knows of my work promoting civic education in our schools asked me, “Are you an American first or a Jew first?”
At first, I didn’t know how to respond. After a moment, I said, “Well, I am Jack Miller first. I was born in America and love it for the freedom I have to achieve my goals through my own abilities and hard work. I also was born a Jew, which has taught me how to live a good life and be responsible to myself and others.”
Then I started to think about how someone could try to categorize me. Yes, I am a Jew and a patriotic American. Beyond that, I am white and male. I am also a college graduate, businessman, philanthropist, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather (which also puts me into the old category), and the list goes on.
Over the next few months, I kept reflecting on the rabbi’s question and my answer. And it brought to mind what’s going on in our society today, where some are consumed with classifying Americans by categories like race, sex, sexual orientation, and religion.
