The current president, during his campaign, used the slogan "make America great again." Those of us who opposed him knew the slogan was intended to appeal to white voters, especially men, who felt they were losing power and longed for "the good old days". Katy Tur, MSNBC reporter and host of her own hour-long show on the cable news network, covered the current president's campaign and recently said that some of his supporters talked about the 1950s being a time when America was great.
The United States of America was flawed in its conception. After having declared independence in a document which stated that "all men are created equal" and "they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", the country not only continued to engage in slavery, but wrote and ratified a constitution which protected slavery. The constitution also limited citizenship to white men, leaving out women, African Americans who had gained freedom and Native Americans.
With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 and ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, African Americans were guaranteed citizenship as well as the right to vote. Then came the Jim Crow laws which were enacted by white Southerners after returning to power in Southern states. The laws were designed to severely limit the rights of African Americans and every attempt was made to impeded their right to vote. Murders and lynching took place on a regular basis. White supremacy reigned in the South, while many whites in Northern were ambivalent at best.
Although women finally won the right to vote with ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, the fight for equal rights continues into the present as does the fight for equality for many groups. While some white Americans may think the 1950s were a time when America was great, that was not the case for non-whites, women or gays and lesbians. African Americans were still engaged in fighting for equal rights in 1950s. That fight continued into the 1960s and while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made great strides, the fight for equality continues.
So was America ever great? Is America great now? Can America ever be great? The answer is a resounding "yes" because greatness and perfection are not the same! When the Declaration of Independence was issued, there were people who understood that slavery could no longer exist in a country that declared all men equal. During the convention in Philadelphia which produced the United States Constitution, there were men who argued that slavery should be abolished. During the 1850s, abolitionists argued forcefully against slavery and Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle' Tom's Cabin which disputed the Southern myth of "happy slaves" and added fuel to the calls to end slavery. In 1860, when eleven Southern states seceded from the Union to protect slavery, men fought and women served in whatever capacity they could to initially save the Union and ultimately end slavery because President Abraham Lincoln understood that slavery had to end and guided the Union in achieving that outcome.
When the war ended, as African Americans began their fight for equal rights, they did not fight alone. They were joined by whites who understood that they could not sit back in silence. When women fought for equality, they did not fight alone. They were joined by men who understood that they could not sit back in silence. When gays, lesbians and transgender people fought for equal rights, they were joined by heterosexual men and women who understood that they could not sit back in silence. When people did not have enough food to eat, people joined together to find ways to help them get food because they understood that they could not sit back in silence.
There are countless numbers of examples of times when people stood up, stood together and spoke out because they understood that they could not sit back in silence. Each and every time they did is what always has and always will make America great!
