A Birthday Letter to America
Dear America,
Two hundred and fifty years is a long time to keep a promise.
Back in 1776, this country made one that was remarkable for its time. It wasn’t a promise that life here would be easy. It wasn’t a promise that success would be guaranteed.
It was a promise that where you start in life does not have to determine where you finish. That your circumstances may shape your story, but they do not get to write the ending.
As someone who has spent his life around entrepreneurs and small business owners, I think about that promise often. Business owners have a habit of testing ideas against reality. We don’t judge something by how it sounds. We judge it by whether it works.
And the truth is, America’s promise holds up more often than the cynics admit and less often than the country deserves. I’ve seen founders start with nothing, and build companies that employ hundreds of people. I’ve seen immigrants arrive with little more than determination, and create opportunities not just for themselves, but for entire communities.
I’ve seen people bet on themselves when nobody else would, and win.
I’ve also seen talented entrepreneurs struggle to get access to capital. I’ve seen small business owners locked out of conversations that directly affect their future. I’ve seen doors that are technically open but much harder to walk through depending on who you know or where you come from.
I know something about that myself. Long before I was sitting in boardrooms or meeting with elected officials, I was working in the fields in south Texas. Nobody handed me a roadmap. Nobody opened every door for me. I built my path one step at a time.
What makes America special is not that it guarantees success. It doesn’t.
What makes America special is that it gives people the chance to pursue it.
The promise of this country was never that someone else would carry you. The promise was that you would have the freedom to build something and the right to dream bigger than your circumstances.
Our responsibility is to make sure that promise remains real. Sometimes that means celebrating what America has done right. Sometimes it means being honest about where we’ve fallen short. I don’t see those as opposing ideas. In fact, I think telling the truth about our challenges is one of the most patriotic things we can do.
You don’t strengthen a country by pretending its problems don’t exist. You strengthen it by facing them and getting to work.
That’s what we try to do every day at the United States Hispanic Business Council.
We advocate for Hispanic-owned businesses, but we never forget that first and foremost, we are American businesses. In fact, the only thing we’re prouder of than being Hispanic is being American.
The almost 5 million Hispanic owned businesses across this country are not a special interest group. They are job creators. They are taxpayers. They are innovators. They are the small businesses that keep communities alive and local economies moving forward. When those businesses succeed, America succeeds.
As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, I find myself feeling incredibly grateful for what this country has made possible, while remaining committed to the work that still needs to be done.
I believe America is still the greatest country in the world for someone with a dream and the courage to pursue it.
I believe the next generation of entrepreneurs should have more opportunities than the generation before them.
And I believe every generation has an obligation to leave the door a little wider open than they found it.
That’s the work ahead of us.
Today, I wish America a happy birthday. We’ll take a moment to celebrate. Then we’ll do what entrepreneurs have always done. We’ll roll up our sleeves, get back to work, and continue building something better.
That’s how businesses are built. And it’s how great countries are built too.
With gratitude, optimism, and unwavering faith in the American Dream,
Javier Palomarez
President & CEO
United States Hispanic Business Council
To learn more, follow @myushbc and @JPalomarez on X.
Visit ushbc.com/join to become a member today.
About the USHBC
Javier Palomarez is the President & CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC). The USHBC is a leading voice for the small business community. A 501(c)6 non-profit organization, the USHBC focuses on the success of American small businesses by ensuring they have a voice in the national dialogue. The USHBC is a nonpartisan organization.
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