Change is one of the hardest things that humans have to face. It isn’t easy. But an unwillingness to face it can be downright dangerous. Underneath it all, Donald Trump’s rhetoric addresses the reality of changes in American demographics that some people cannot handle. There is a group of people in America that are afraid to let go of an image of what it means to be an American as white, male, and Christian.
People forget just how un-American that giving in to that fear really is. Being an American isn’t easy. It requires a willingness to live in an incredibly diverse and dynamic environment–to love a place that is always changing. If you want to say that you love America, wave the flag, and claim that you put “America first” who have a moral responsibility to deal with change and diversity. Actually, putting “America First” means being open to immigrants. It means being willing to live alongside people who are different from you, who may challenge your beliefs or values, who confront you with diversity in ways that make you uncomfortable. You don’t get it both ways. You don’t get to be an American and like living in a homogeneous environment that doesn’t challenge you to step outside your cultural comfort zone. Maybe it’s OK to have strong feelings about illegal immigration, but, in reality, conspiracy theories about immigration are some of the most un-American ideas ever created.
What separates America and its story from the stories of other nations is the very thing that Trump’s supporters have turned against. The rual white male rustic may be an image we associate with America, but history teaches us that what makes America America is the rural Black woman immigrant escaping poverty and violence to make it in America, who lives down the road from him. If you think about it, how did what is probably the most diverse nation in history, the nation most welcoming of people who are different, come to see itself in such starkly racial terms? Or perhaps better asked, how did people within what is possibly the most diverse nation in history, one that welcomes difference more than any other, come to see their nation in starkly white and Chrstian terms?
People who when asked what an American is, conjure up an image of a white male farmer in the Midwest making a living off the land are confused. Not the making a living of the land part, but the white male part. There is no country where it is less likely that the iconic be a majority. This white male’s neighbor is more likely than not to be a person of difference. In many ways, it has always been that way. Before, we had to humor the American white male. Now, increasingly, people are unwilling to. It is time to remind everyone that being an American means embracing change. Diversity made America great in the past, and will again.
Progressive Without Apology 