It appears that an all-points bulletin has been issued in search of this nation’s soul. It is no secret that the current administration’s policies, including its budget priorities, have triggered a profound questioning of this nation’s beliefs and ethos.
In effect, it is war, over people.
This is not metaphorical, but actual choices being made by the current administration: the Pentagon, Wall Street and the Border Wall versus Meals on Wheels and Sesame Street. Translation: Bombs, prisons and profit versus the needs of human beings, seniors, children, and education.
And yet, it is not so much these anti-human policies and choices, but the very existence of this administration that has caused people to profoundly question everything regarding the roots and foundation of this nation, including what it means to be an American.
Without question, the face of this nation is now officially pro-war, White supremacist, misogynist, and anti-grandpa and anti-grandma. It is also anti-science, anti-clean air and anti-clean water. And yes, both the president and the GOP hates puppies, too. One truly cannot make this up. And that’s why the question of what it means to be an American in the age of a so-called fake president has come to the fore.
But even this question is wrong. In effect, what is already being asked by this administration is, who is an American? The easy answer, as we are seeing, is a throwback to the 1950s. On the surface, the color brown is out, but so are all other colors other than White. Therein is the embodiment of what “Make America Great Again” alludes to. It is “Leave it to Beaver” America. A large part of the U.S. electorate wants to go back to that era, to those times.
Yes, those were the good old days. That was the America that was officially segregated. It was when this nation’s major colleges and universities were all-White. The good ol’ days of Jim Crow. It is the America that conservatives speak of, regarding the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution and their “original intent.” It is the one represented by former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and now the president’s choice to succeed him, Judge Neil Gorsuch. It is the America they wish to return to, but that would also now include Jose and Juanita Crow.
