Inject this straight into my veins.
I grew up in an America where it wasn't okay to be proud of being an American.
Sure, Lee Greenwood had the song about freedom, but if you appreciated the heritage and history that came with securing a homeland where such freedom could exist, you were labeled problematic (or a racist - leftists love calling everyone racists).
For the last 30 years (at least) every major public institution in America has shamed Americans for, well, being American. The messaging has been RELENTLESS, especially for us younger folks.
You live on stolen land.
Your ancestors were bigoted warmongers.
Your history is shameful.
Your faith is a farce.
Now that the executive branch is staffed by Americans who reject that messaging, the leftists have lost their everloving minds.
And my favorite:
😂
John Gast (1842-1896) was a Prussian-born immigrant who moved to Missouri as a young child. American Progress is his most famous painting. It was made during a time when the Wild West was still being settled. It was a vision of Manifest Destiny.
You can debate the merits of the Manifest Destiny mindset. But let's not be as ignorant or willfully idiotic as the woke types.
America was not a vacuum of peace and prosperity, filled to the brim with noble native tribes who wanted to coexist with nature. It was a land sparsely filled with warring bands of hostile human beings, like any other place on the planet. This doesn't mean we should whitewash instances where land was actually stolen or treaties were broken, but it doesn't mean our ancestors were uniquely evil. Far from it.
Of any empire that has conquered throughout thousands of years of human history, those of Western Europe respected law, due process, and human rights more than any other. In fact, they dismantled the mass slaughter and utter savagery of native kingdoms like the Aztec, which ruled slave states through bloody horrors.
It is naive to believe that America would have remained some pristine, spiritual utopia if Americans did not migrate Westward. Imagine the chaos of a world where the United States was shared with France, Spain, England, Russia, Germany, and other growing powers. If Americans did not secure the "sea to shining sea," others would have. The Founders could barely understand the providential events that led to their victory over England (read about the Battle of Chesapeake Bay sometime). Their children and grandchildren understood that they had a duty to God and their future generations to steward that opportunity wisely.
Of course, you don't have to be as wordy as me to express this:
Normal Americans feel these things in their bones. Everyone knows what it means at their core to be an American, even if they can't always put it into words. It isn't just the feel-good vibes of an economic tax zone. To be an American MEANS something.
Foreigners can become Americans. John Gast proves that. Melanin levels have nothing to do with being an American. Countless Americans have proven that as well (sorry but not sorry to the actual racists).
But to become an American means the abandonment of other identity. It means taking on an identity of Christian heritage, English history, and a thousand other traditions, customs, and norms.
You simply cannot bend "American" to mean whatever you want; just like "Saudi" or "Chinese" mean certain things, "American" means something exclusive as well, even if it is a bit more flexible than ethnic identities.
This is why we all know a stupid statement when we see it:
Anyway, someone needs to tell Trump that we want more of this from Homeland Security and the rest of our public agencies/institutions.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
