Stop Saying “This Is Not My America”
You cannot deny the history of this country
This was written on a day in which an armed right-wing mob took over the United States Capitol Building. All because the President of the United States, Donald Trump, along with his co-conspirators, have spent months lying about a rigged and fraudulent election.
Many of us have shown a range of emotions throughout the day, but one that keeps popping up is the phrase,
This is not my America.
A phrase that similarly echos the one people started using in November of 2016. “Donald Trump is not my president.” Both of which are factually wrong, and in most cases unintentionally harmful.
The one I’m focused on is about America. It’s about people either not knowing, or simply rejecting, the violent history of this country. The country as we know it today started by armed militants sailing across the ocean to conquer a land that was already occupied. Slaughtering Native Americans.
In the early-1800’s America had already started supporting coups and revolutions in foreign countries because of its own interests. The State Department documented 103 foreign interventions between 1978 and 1895 simply because they suited the political or business interests of the United States. To this day our government continues to meddle in foreign politics through military force and install dictators in the name of “democracy.”
There’s even a long history of domestic uprisings and crimes committed by the government towards its citizens. While the list is long, some of the most atrocious include slavery, lynchings, jailing anti-war protestors, Japanese internment camps during WWII.
Knowing this history, combined with the idyllic image that most American’s have, is why the phrase “This is not my America,” is harmful. Whether intentional or not, it’s whitewashing the history of America which makes a day like January 6, 2021, another one in our long violent history.
If you’ve found yourself saying this phrase recently, think about what it is you’re actually feeling. Because I don’t think you’re trying to make a factual statement, but instead an emotional one. This should make you sad and upset, and it’s ok to say so.
To move forward though we must recognize and reconcile that this is America. This was America before Donald Trump took office, and most importantly this will continue to be America after he leaves.
