Although he sings it often and loudly, Lee Greenwood isn’t the only person proud to be an American. However, being Black and living in the United States with what Blacks have endured and survived, I would argue that perhaps I am prouder of what our foundational documents state, in spite of the fact we have yet to achieve those goals. I’ve always known that the United States of America as a symbol of freedom, where everyone can pursue happiness with the same equal opportunity, is aspirational, not actual. Our country and our democracy are works in progress. As a child, I loved the idea of the land of the free and home of the brave even though that freedom did not include my right to eat in the restaurant of my choosing or to shop in any store for merchandise or to have equal employment opportunities. I knew that although my ancestors were largely responsible for making the southern United States the agricultural juggernaut it became, those same people could not vote, find employment, own land, or attend public schools or universities like their White counterparts. But we Americans keep trying to reach the pinnacle that we pretend we have already achieved—despite the Civil War and Reconstruction, through segregation and lynchings, through World Wars and internment camps and denying Jews entry into the United States. We hope that even though the torch of liberty is flickering, it will burn steadily one day. As a young Black girl growing up in a third-class industrial city in Pennsylvania, I believed and memorized the Langston Hughes poem “Epilogue.”
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll sit at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed,-
I, too, am America.
And America made strides. We passed legislation, Civil Rights and Voting Rights, but we did not change hearts and minds. When White men came to power who were afraid of the strides that Black and brown people and women and the disabled had made, they conspired to develop a plan to halt their progress at any cost, including destroying our country.
Then a White, narcissistic man of no conscience emerged, who vowed to Make America Great Again, although the United States of America was already great. Project 2025 could have been called Reconstruction 2025, because the goals are the same. This man demanded allegiance to himself, not to the Constitution, and all the White people in Congress who cared more about their positions and money were happy to comply. They lied to the American people and to themselves. And soon they saw nothing wrong with separating children from parents, arresting and incarcerating hard-working immigrants who had lived in this country for years paying taxes and making the country stronger. They saw nothing wrong with mouthing the words “Freedom of Speech” and “Freedom of the Press” while dismantling our universities and shutting down media that didn’t agree with what their leader said. They saw nothing wrong with lying to the very people who had put them in office. Words like morals and ethics became passé. They saw nothing wrong with alienating our friends and allies and calling them names. This man whom they followed worked to make himself wealthy at the expense of the American people and those who followed him pretended that it was okay when they knew it was wrong. Soon they aligned themselves with law-breakers and criminals like this man and convinced themselves that the emperor had on new clothes. Even the people who served on our highest court became partisan and appeared to decide cases to please the man. Justice may have her eyes covered, but she is not blind. The blindfold indicates impartiality, without regard to wealth, status, or color. The Founders of our country would be aghast that the system they created with a distribution of power and checks and balances has been bastardized by weak people elected to Congress and appointed to our federal courts. People within the government were afraid to speak out because the man is cruel and vindictive. When he asked them to pass legislation to take healthcare from the poor and give tax breaks to the wealthy, they happily complied and found ways to twist the words of the legislation to confuse the people who voted for them.
Ladies Liberty and Justice stood up and observed our country, as they listened to Lee Greenwood sing, “From the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee, Across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea, from Detroit down to Houston and New York to L.A.” They saw the divisiveness and the violence; they saw the complacency and lack of competency; they saw the illness and the hunger; they saw the homelessness and loss of jobs; they saw the lack of childcare and quality education; they saw the desperation and depression; they saw the selfishness and the lack of charity; they gasped and then cried. The United States of America had lost her soul.
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