One of my earliest memories is 9/11. To grow up in the post 9/11 world was to be told that we were under attack. We had to go after “them” before they came after “us”. There have always been divides in our nation, our world, our communities. So many moments throughout my young life I’ve thought this is it, the division is finally coming to a peak, this has to be the moment when it comes to a head and we have to face it and solve it. Moments like the shooting of Trayvon Martin, something that to me a young teenager seemed so simple. A racist white man followed an innocent black teenager and shot him in cold blood because he didn’t “look like he belonged.” But it was far from simple, because gun laws in the United States are far from united. Stand your ground laws give vigilantes the right to shoot those they deem a threat. Give them the right to act as juror, judge, and executioner. But I would not be defeated, I was young and the world would be better when I got an education, when I fought for the things I believed in.
By the time I left high school we had seen the Newtown Connecticut school shooting. Naively I thought surely this would be a moment for change. But really it was the moment that all hope for change died. Because the moment we as a nation accepted the slaughtering of school children, we lost our humanity.
But I stayed the course. Go to college, study politics, make the world a better place. Black men continued to be killed, their killers went free. Women’s rights questioned over and over again. Scientist’s concerns on climate change shouted down as propaganda. And then in 2016, a man decided he would run for president. I thought okay surely the Republicans and Democrats must agree on this, they must agree that this baboon if unfit to serve our nation. Unfit to take the oath of office, unfit to swear to protect and uphold the constitution of the United States. A document that assures us all a voice in government; a bill of rights. As imperfect as our government is, surely it deserves better than this reality tv star, who’s idea of public policy was to build a wall and lock her up?
America started as an idea. An idea that we are all created equal and have certain unalienable rights. We had more great ideas as time went on, like providing assistance to those who were out of work, giving stipends to the retired elderly, putting a man on the moon, and advocating for democracy across the globe. We created electricity, the telephone, built planes and cars. Were we ever perfect? Were we ever great? Maybe not. But we tried. We sought out great thinkers and listened and we tried. We aspired to greatness.
Since 9/11 this country has fought a war abroad on terrorism. But we have neglected the war right here at home. The war for racial equality, the war against a far right that is determined to pull us back into the 20th century. A war against the middle class, a war against women’s rights, and a war against science. It should not be a hard decision to listen to doctors and scientist. It should not be hard to look at a protest of white supremacists with swastika tattoos and signs and declare definitively that they do not stand for American values. It should not be hard to watch a video of a white cop kneeling on a handcuffed black mans neck, killing him, and declare it excessive force and decide to prosecute.
But for some reason, for some Americans, for this president, it is. Some where along this journey people decided that freedom of speech meant that white supremacy was okay. That a cop should not face consequences for killing an unarmed black man. And that science was made up and the consequences could be ignored. Whether it be one hundred thousand lives lost due to coronavirus, or the lives we will lose due to lack of action on climate change. The science community has been shut out of Washington. In state legislatures across the country a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion has been significantly restricted. And racism is alive and well in the US of A.
Tonight 100,000 of my countrymen are dead. There is no national mourning. No united outrage. Because there is no United States of America anymore, for too long we have categorized ourselves in “us” and “them”. Black and White. New Yorkers and Floridians. Southerners and Northerns. Christians and Not. Rich or Struggling. White collar or Blue collar. Republican or Democrat. But all these identities have made us forget the most important one. We are Americans, and we are dying.
We are dying of coronavirus.
We are dying of bullet wounds.
We are dying of police brutality.
We are dying of climate change.
We are dying of opioids.
We are dying fighting terrorism.
And we are dying of mental illness.
The American Dream is dying. And not because an immigrant came and stole it, not because terrorism threatens it. The truth is, as nice as the idea was, we are not all created equal. Some are born with more, born into better school districts, have better opportunities given to them. We can’t live in a world of ideals but we can’t live in a world of hate either. We must start listening again. We must fix the flaws within the system we have. When you see systemic racism say so. When you see systemic sexism say so. When the law favors mass incarceration, change it. When you hear a politician discount scientific fact, run against them.
Do not let fear drive politics, do not let someone tell you your ideas are to small or too crazy for America. I have thought it many times before, but this country is at a turning point. There is an election this fall. We have a choice, 4 more years of a man who denies science, supports Nazis, and believes fear rhetoric is the same thing as public policy. Or a man who is willing to listen. He won’t be the catalyst for all the change you may wish to see. But it will be a step. If I am sure of anything it is that true, lasting, democratic change is gradual. There will not be a radical revolution. We had one, it was in 1776, and we built a nation that has withstood over 200 years. And I believe it is worth fight for, join me?
