NEW YORK – A photo shared by American actress Rachel MacKnight has gone viral for showing a white woman holding her baby and a Muslim family smiling back at the child on the C Train of the New York subway, in a series of photos celebrating what makes America great.

Taking the photo on the 4th of July holiday, MacKnight captioned the post: “Thiiiiiis is what makes America great. Happy 4th of July, y’all”, followed by two heart emojis, The Daily Mail reported.

MacKnight took the picture while she was riding the C train and the tweet has been shared more than 18,000 times and liked more than 69,000 times on Twitter.

More than 500 people chimed in praising the sweet photo.

Many Twitter users quickly took to the social media platform to celebrate the moment, saying they were proud to be American because of moments like this that welcomes diversity.

One wrote: “You are so right! This is what America is all about’!”

Another added: “THIS is #America! We [love] NYC! Always try 2 stay in diverse places.”

One man made a political statement and said: “This has nothing to do with left vs. right, conservative vs. liberal, red vs. blue… it’s about the human experience. And it’s beautiful.”

Some people shared their own interactions with people from different backgrounds from them, saying how wonderful it is when people come together.

User RarefiedAlien said: “Was at the store to buy some curry and a Muslim couple approached me. They gave me tips on how to prepare it. I felt like hugging them.”