I've been dealing with an uncomfortable truth for the last few years.
It's one I didn't really start analyzing until about five or so years ago.
And now as the next administration readies to take control of our seat
of government, I have had to face this truth head on.
I grew up with a father
who was an immigrant. He LOVED this country. He was not oblivious to
it's flaws, nor of the history of it's oppression of people of color.
However, he ALWAYS asserted that he could not have made the life
for himself and his family that he made had he not come to the US. He was
dedicated to doing his civic duty and encouraged all his children to
participate in the process. He taught us that you vote. you go to jury duty. You engage the system and
make it work for you
His influence combined with my love of history, encouraged and enabled me to learn so
much about America. The good, bad, and horrible. And they both have brought me to this place
of duality in which I find myself. It is a place where I, a 43 yr old woman who is acutely aware of the oppressive and problematic nature of this
nation of my birth, must admit that the reason I fight so hard for
freedom, justice, and equality is not only because it is what we all
deserve as human beings, and not just because people of color and black
people have always been denied it here, but also because deep down I
love this country and would like for it to reflect the best parts of
it's written creed and it's highest ideals. But mostly, I want it to be
worthy of the love my father gave it from the moment he came to these
shores to his last breath.
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