There really are two Americas.
One of them is the exclusive America. The other, an America made up of the world.
In the exclusive America, this has become an America where the white man is free to rule, to subjugate and to foster a race of purity and righteousness. This is Donald Trump’s America and the America of those who wish to separate themselves into a nation of whiteness. This was Nixon’s “silent majority”. Think of this America as the modern Confederate State, but the borders are not yet fully defined.
This exclusive America harks back to an idea that may have never really existed, but is holy and iconic like some great totem of truth. That the founding fathers were white orthodox Christians from Europe who wished for a state ruled by their own kind is among these truths. This America is monolithic and never changes, only those around it change and that is the real problem.
This America is founded on Protestant notions of work and grace and with a strong sense that only white Europeans are God’s chosen people. This is the America of rural moral strength and God-fearing conservative values.
This America is as much the soil, the flag and the monuments as it is the ideals perpetuated by its acolytes. This is more symbol or a dream really than it ever was a reality.
The other America is a nation of immigrants and is something that is constantly in flux and changing. This is an America of the idea that all men and women were created equal be they black, brown, white or Asian, straight or gay, atheist, Muslim, Christian or Jew. This is an America of justice for all. This is an America that idealized and even aspired for a classless society even though it never really was. This is an America of the rights of the citizen over the institution – the frontier of the spirit of the individual. This is the American republic – what we call a democracy. This is the America of ideals that are more important than symbols and imagery. The only true symbol of this America is the natural ruggedness of its lands and the diversity of its citizens – its inherit natural beauty, the richness of its vistas, and the freedom and justice that is exalted through the love and empathy of its true believers.
The exclusive America is truly disappearing into oblivion. The fixes that have been placed on working people are being exposed. The truth, albeit hard to find, is out there and even the Tyranny of Lies that is this modern state they have erected can not hide the light completely.
The push is a major one and has been going on since Reagan. The inclusive America has been on its heels, but younger people replace those who mortally pass on. Immigrants and minorities continue to grow their population and whites intermix with blacks and Chicanos and Asians and other races blessed is the Lord our God of all. The women’s movement was too powerful for a backlash and the sexual revolution is here to stay having survived the diseased years of Ronald Reagan. So that genie really isn’t going anywhere soon.
They want to take away the vote. It starts by perpetuating the utter lie called “voter fraud” and the reinstatement and spread of Jim Crow. We have governance that has lost an informed voter. Indeed, those we elect make it their mission to spread their lies so wide and deep we barely can muster a prayer. The next step is logical – the complete and utter dismantling of the republic itself. This isn’t just un-American, it’s the greatest threat we’ve likely ever faced as the nation that should be leading the world to something better through peace, charity and love. Well anyway, it is likely the greatest threat since the last war between the north and the south – between the center and the periphery. The Union forces won that one, but the Right has hijacked the system this go around. Period…, so if that doesn’t get you up off your ass and moving, I don’t know what will.
Remember, United We Stand…and divided….
There really only is one America and this is an America for all of us – every one! We the People shall rule this land, not some sexually immature and predatory, ignorant, hate-filled, bigoted, third rate banana-republic autocrat.
This post originally appeared on the Reveille website on November 29, 2016.