During his campaign, Donald Trump and his supporters liked to talk about making America “great.” His actions as our president thus far have caused me to reflect on why America is great in the first place.
My sense of American greatness was formed in elementary school history classes, when I learned: that America was founded by people seeking freedom to worship and speak as they wanted, not as decreed by a monarch; that our nation fought a war with itself to end slavery and enshrined the president who led that fight for good in a monument in our capital; that we mobilized and sacrificed as a nation to fight in two world wars to preserve the liberties of our own citizens but also those of other nations; that we have progressed (if imperfectly) toward our goal of liberty and justice for all through the women’s suffrage and Civil Rights movements; that we are a nation of immigrants that offers hope and opportunity to the “tired . . . poor . . . huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
President Trump’s words and actions trample and spit on this history. Far from “great,” his wall, deportation force, and Muslim and refugee ban reflect a shrunken and cowardly America, one that projects fear and prejudice, not confidence and opportunity.
What will truly make America great again is for us to show the world that we the people will stand up and reject Trump’s un-American values.
JOE SHORT
Concord