Pedals & Pages

By 1860, the value of enslaved African Americans was greater than the combined value of all railroads, factories, and banks in the U.S.

Nearly 3,500 African Americans were the victims of brutal lynchings between 1882 and 1965. 3,500…

The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 saw an entire Black community destroyed by white mobs, resulting in the deaths of as many as 300 Black residents and displacing thousands more.

In 1954, over 99% of Black students in Southern states attended segregated schools.

In 1963, women earned about 59 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Do I need to keep going? Did I spark a nerve?

My peculiar mind has led me not to be upset with “The Greatest Generation” but to try and understand why this generation was so lenient on social injustices, such as racism, xenophobia, sexism, well- the list goes on and on. And yet, even in 2024, we are plagued with baseless touts of “Making America Great Again.”

So why are millions of Americans nostalgic for an era that ushered in the reality of colored-only washrooms and drinking fountains, a lack of women’s rights, and a system designed to suppress the voices and lives of non-white Caucasian males? (To name only a few.)

We choose to ignore our past and the populations who suffered the most during those centuries when we tout rhetoric. It’s messy, I get it. But how did we get here? In substitution of critical thinking, we opt for dogmatic schemes designed to put Us against Them. These fallacious realities are further manifested by populist candidates and a new form of reality is created- that of fanaticism.

Carla Power, in her Pulitzer Prize finalist book titled ‘Home, Land, Security: Deradicalization and the Journey Back from Extremism‘ notes:

Like the babysitter in the horror movie who realizes the serial killer isn’t in the woods but inside the house, [America] has finally begun to recognize the proximity of violent extremists.

I chalk fanaticism as the early roots of extremism- ultimately leading to violence (as we saw on January 6th, 2021.) These takeovers do not simply appear out of thin air. Hitler didn’t take over Germany in a day, Stalin didn’t annihilate millions in a month, and Mussolini didn’t suppress his country to total submission in just a few years. These things take time to develop, and they all have the similar character of baseless dogma, of slogans that paint with very, very broad brush strokes.

It’s ok to see the good in what America used to be and to have a nostalgic longing for certain aspects of it. Remember when Coca-Cola was made with real cane sugar? Remember when you could repair your John Deere in an afternoon? But I beg everyone to have the capacity to admit wrong and cease these dogmatic claims that America was somehow great “in the old days.” It was great for you. Now, that’s not very pluralist, is it?

It’s easy to be a white family and proudly display a mendacious sign in your yard, longing for an era where you felt life was better. But, for the sake of shunting fanaticism, imagine you are a minority still suffering from a system that, not so long ago, was shored against you.

In a juxtaposed sort of way, America is a great country because one can adopt baseless rhetoric in the guise of freedom of speech. When we polarize ourselves into a group-think tribe, we veto the ability to think critically. Does that make America great?

So, let’s truly Make America Great Again by having these conversations and admitting the problems with our past and present. Let’s acknowledge our biases and do our best to turn down the rhetoric. Let’s re-invite civics and critical thinking skills instead of adopting fanatical slogans. Let’s pause the worshiping of political candidates who call their supporters ‘poorly educated.’

I have a lot of respect for the “old timers.” They built a country on their backs (and the system built on the backs of minorities.) But, as I said in a previous article, two things can be true at once. Millions of old-timers worked their butts off pursuant to the American Dream. But that same system has robbed so many of the American Dream (and it continues to do so.) To deny this truth is to paint yourself as poorly educated.

America was never great, but we can certainly make it better for everyone.

Thanks for reading. I was formerly pursuing a political science degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I also worked for a few GOP campaigns and lobbying groups. Although I have moved on from the life of politics, I still enjoy writing on the topic from time to time.