On a recent morning, I went into a variety store to purchase some lottery tickets. Next to the counter was a rack of red “Make America Great Again” caps. I walked out of the store, not really because the sentiment was offensive, but more because of who and what it represents. For some, it’s a line in the sand, but for others, it represents unbridled fear and divisive rhetoric that’s driving decisions that aren’t in America’s collective best interests. Those decisions and policies are neither reflective nor thoughtful – they’re knee-jerk reactions to perceived injustices. That got me to thinking about where we’ve come and where we’re going.
My late grandfather had an expression passed down to us. He’d say, facetiously, “My mind’s made up – don’t confuse me with facts.” For many folks I see wearing the red cap, that should be stitched right below “Make America Great Again.” I reflected on the values that it has come to stand for over the last two years: intolerance, making “deals” that may or may not be mutually or universally beneficial, widening income inequality, taking from the poor and giving to the rich because it may eventually trickle back down to the poor, covering everyone’s medical needs is a privilege and not a right, marginalizing minorities and reinforcing stereotypes, philosophical rigidity, protecting the environment is less important than making money, climate change is a myth, labor unions are a socialist plot, immigrants are bad people here to pillage and plunder. Is this really what America has become? Do these values really speak for everyone – the farmer in Iowa, the Wall Street investment banker, the Florida retiree, the factory worker in the rust belt, or the Hollywood filmmaker? They all have a common, equal vote and should have a common voice. And yet, they don’t. To each one, America’s opportunity is very different.
This country was founded on decency, a search for individual and collective liberty, and a view that everyone had a “bite at the apple”. Some made something of it, others didn’t, but we shared the same starting line. It took us almost a hundred years and an awful war to extend that vision to all Americans, and it’s still in the dream stage. But most Americans would like to think we’re moving forward on the train to equality rather than backward. Every so often there is some event that reminds us we’re not done. A shooting of an unarmed citizen of color, burning churches in Mississippi, an armed attack on a temple, a synagogue, a mosque. Are these “normal”, “typical” Americans, or are they crazies with scary ideologies and extreme beliefs? If they are the latter, from whence did those ideologies come? Who taught these people to hate and revile? Who taught them to cross the street because those that don’t look like us are dangerous? Who instilled in them the belief that if others rise, they are doomed to fall?
Interestingly, as the immigration debate and the fear factor have been ramping up, America continues to be viewed across the globe as a beacon of opportunity, of tolerance and freedom, of the first step to a better life. South and Central Americans are coming here to escape indescribable poverty, violence, and suffering. Students are coming from Asia, Africa, and Europe to attend our universities, which are considered some of the best in the world. Women in the Middle East are seeing a different set of life paths than their traditions have dictated, and are looking to make changes. Our technological innovation has led the planet for the better part of a century. So what does it say about us that our population is becoming increasingly cynical about the future, about the abilities of our people to earn a decent living, to own a home, to retire and live the end of our lives with dignity, to receive medical treatments if we get sick, to breathe clean air and drink clean water? What does it say about us that the desire to help anyone in need is a radical, “socialist” idea the needs to be stamped out?
The world is watching us, and from the feedback, that global view is becoming less and less favorable. If America wishes to continue as a global leader, it is critical that we lead by example, and that’s from our president on down. We need to show the world how we can be kind and welcoming, or at least that we know how to play nicely with others. We need to show that we can protect the unprotected, that we can cherish and renew the Earth’s natural resources. We need to show the world that we value all human life. We need to show that we have a deep and abiding commitment to protecting the environment. We need to show every country that they have our respect, even if they’re not doing things our way. We need to continue searching for ways to benefit everyone, not just native born Americans (of European descent), whites, upper income Americans, folks that afford to stay at Mar-A-Lago. We need to show that dignity and respect extend to every human being on every continent. We need to show that we care. When that message is proclaimed loudly around the world, then we will truly have “Made America Great Again”.
I'm Thinking...No! 