I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” — James Baldwin
I love America, I really do, and I am frequently asked to leave it. No need for me to paraphrase comments when I can provide recent examples. Punctuation has not been changed to protect the guilty.
“when tyranny becomes law rebellion is the only way, we need to save our republic anyone who don’t like our great Republic can move to a different country there is plenty of tyrant countries looking for more people to oppress, check out China” — Robert
“The United States of America was great the day the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence.Enigma, you can always go back to your tribe and motherland that sold you away.” — The Just Avenger
“How ridiculous… if you don’t like it here you can move …that’s the beauty of freedom.” — Teddy
“move to the Congo there are no Trump supporters there” — tiredofinsanelibs
I love America, and I often criticize it. Far too often I repeat myself because some of the things I clearly see like voter suppression and systemic racism are the same topics that some will deny existing until their dying breath. The general sentiment expressed is that I can either learn to accept America as it is or leave it. I submit there’s a third option, to keep working on its flaws to make America better.
I typically write about politics, education, history, and racism. When I write about politics, my views align more with the Democratic Party though I have criticism for them as well. Some of my detractors try to place me in a box defining me, to keep from having a fact-based discussion.
“What a piece of crap this article is. The left, the democrat party, and liberals all believe that everybody should think just alike and that any difference of opinion is some kind of crime. The writer of this $%## ll has only one objective, to make everybody look bad if you don’t suck up the democrat party.”
Writing about education didn’t use to be such a hotbed of dissension. Once upon a time, education was good, and misinformation was bad. Nowadays, the discussion has been distracted by the freedom of those knowing least about education to dictate to others what may be learned.
History is one of my favorite subjects and where I get into the most trouble. A wider swath of people than I would have imagined don’t want to hear anything that doesn’t align with their existing beliefs, especially when it comes to their beloved Founders. Washington did tell the occasional lie, Thomas Jefferson stuttered. and Aaron Burr had what some people called his secret wife, the former Asian slave of his wife Theodosia who assumed a new role after Theodosia’s death. History isn’t always pretty but shouldn’t be denied.Most discussions of race turn into people shouting at each other with nobody listening. For my efforts, I get called a racist for bringing up race. I think it is not so much that nobody wants to talk about it as most people want to deal with it. Acknowledging systemic racism and voter suppression would mean having to address it, and we can’t have that.
One of the most frequent accusations I get is that I’m a “race-baiter” whose goal is to divide America. I’m not sure if that means I’m allegedly calling for lefty-Leftist commies to rise up against the true patriots or calling for the race war advocated by Dylann Roof and Charles Manson when they actually killed people. In reality, I want America to improve America. I criticize it in hopes people will come together and make it better.
The current state of politics suggests there won’t be change anytime soon, and that’s too bad. The recent, “State of the Union” address showed how far apart politicians are. Voter suppression is on the rise, along with book banning. Mass suppression is up and the income disparity gap is widening. I’m not likely to run out of things to criticize soon, I’ll probably continue to get invitations to “go back to Africa” or just leave.
Of the places I’ve visited, I think I could live in Paris, London, Switzerland, or the Bahamas. I don’t think any of those places are overall better than the US but I’m pretty flexible. I think no matter where I lived, I’d see room for improvement and not hesitate to say so, or at least write about it.
To those who have suggested I leave since I’m “so unhappy.” I ask, “Wouldn’t you rather America be even better?” That’s different than Making America Greater Again when “again” never points to a point in time that was great for all Americans. While I don’t propose taking America back to anytime in the past, I do believe we can have a more hopeful future. That doesn’t mean I get my way on everything. I’m all for compromise, even that freedom people talk about though they often mean the other thing.
America can be better, we can begin by finding common ground and starting there. In the aftermath of yet another mass shooting, this time on a college campus. We can look at implementing the background checks that 90% of the public believes in. That’s just one example, maybe you can help come up with others. Then we elect people willing to make those things happen. In the meantime, I’ll write about these issues, in hopes things do get better if we act instead of remaining silent.