America’s democracy is, once again, under attack from a rabid Republican right-wing cabal even stronger than the one that tried, and almost succeeded, to strip this nation of its freedoms and diversity on Jan. 6, 2021.
It comes from traitors who now occupy the leadership of the House of Representatives, a treasonous Speaker of the House, a ludicrous gaggle of committee chairman who try to exercise powers they don’t have and a vile woman that the Speaker says he “can’t live without.”
They are helped by a fractured America that has long abandoned the diversity that used to make this country great but now forgets the tolerance that helped coalitions that used to make our government work.
As the United States grows more racially, culturally and politically fractionalized, let’s acknowledge the obvious: Our diversity does not automatically make us stronger, as politicians and activists sometimes proclaim, but is a major contributor to our polarization. Our best hope for civil coexistence is rediscovering the lost art of tolerance.
Cataloguing all the examples of America’s sweeping multiculturalism is an impossible endeavor. We have enormous diversity of identity: White. Black. Hispanic. Asian. Native American. Straight. Gay. Trans. Nonbinary. More significant is our diversity of beliefs. Pro-choice. Pro-life. Conservatives. Liberals. MAGA Republicans. Democratic socialists. Never-Trumpers. Moderates. Libertarians. Gun enthusiasts. Gun-control advocates. Climate activists. Fossil fuel defenders. Christians. Jews. Muslims. Atheists. And more.
Many Americans occupy multiple groups, and other individuals don’t easily fit into any specific group. Significant numbers within certain groups will never accept the beliefs — or even the right to have a voice — of other groups. Too often, all they have in common is an unshakable moral certitude of the righteousness of their respective causes. Clearly, our diversity is a big reason for our national disharmony.
It’s not popular to say that, but most Americans know it. Just examine the opinions about our growing racial and ethnic diversity. In 2020, the Pew Research Center surveyed attitudes about the U.S. Census Bureau’s forecast that in a couple of decades, Black, Latino and Asian Americans will — combined — displace Whites as the majority population. Most respondents said the development was neither good nor bad. Eleven percent called it bad. Only 24 percent declared such a prospect a good thing — up from 14 percent in 2016, but far from an endorsement of diversity as, as then-candidate Joe Biden once tweeted, “our greatest strength.”
White people are, unsurprisingly, the least enthusiastic about the shifting population shares, Pew found. But interestingly, fewer than half of Black, Hispanic or Asian respondents called a more diverse population a good development, despite their projected growth. People of all races and backgrounds know diversity can be hard. The answer is not to “get the hell away” from each other, a cartoonist’s rant aside. The better path is to recalibrate our notion of what a functional multicultural society looks like.
Diversity used to be a major strength of America. The America that came together in 2001 after terrorists destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center and attacked the Pentagon is gone, replaced by hate, misinformation, greed, and lust for power.
A disgraced, criminal former president threatened “death and destruction” openly on social media and his cult of Republican pawns praise his behavior and attack the law enforcers who work day and night to bring him and his enablers to justice.
“PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” screams the despotic Donald Trump on his pathetic social media site. “OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED, AS THEY TELL US TO BE PEACEFUL!”
Republicans supported his threats or simply stays quiet.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) however, castigated Trump on Friday for his latest comments, joining in with criticism from other Democrats.
“The twice-impeached former president’s rhetoric is reckless, reprehensible and irresponsible,” Jeffries told a news conference. “It’s dangerous. And if he keeps it up, he’s going to get someone killed.”
“We’ve already seen the consequences of incitement from the former president,” he added. “He is principally responsible for inciting the violent insurrection that happened on Jan. 6, but clearly he has not learned his lesson.”
Sadly, neither has America.
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1 thought on “American intolerance and those who help it destroy our way of life”
Black people are not actively trying to kill white people.
Gay and Trans people are not fighting against straight people’s right to love, marry, and exist.
Gun control advocates think children getting murdered is something we can prevent.
Fossil Fuel defenders are looting the planet for their own personal profit.
Talk about a load of false equivalencies. And that’s only some of them. J.
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