The word demands examination before anything else. United. As in the United States of America. From the Latin unitus — made one. Not two factions forced into proximity. Not opposing halves sharing a border. One. A single covenant, a genuine coming together of distinct parts into something coherent and whole. That is what the word means. That is what we have never been. The first stones of this nation were laid while enslaved hands bled. The land itself was cleared through the