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Two Americas Masquerading As One

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There has always been two Americas masquerading as one. The election of Donald Trump as president has brought one front and center. Some may think that is a negative, bad thing. But, is it?

It cannot be ignored that more than sixty-million Americans voted for Donald Trump. They voted for him apparently because he promised to do what they wanted him to do. They voted for him because he apparently expressed views that they agreed with—whether about women, minorities, the environment, or the economy.

There has always been two Americas masquerading as one. It must also not be ignored that over sixty million Americans voted for Hillary Clinton—almost three million more than did for Donald Trump.

What does it all mean?

It means that those who claim to be citizens of one America are tolerant, embracing, and believe in the equality of humanity, regardless of skin color, regardless of a person’s station in life, regardless of where a person lives. Citizens of this America honor and believe in the principles, rights and privileges outlined in and guaranteed by the Constitution.

Two Americas Masquerading As One

Two Americas Masquerading As One

Two Americas Masquerading As One.
Photo Credit: USAToday.com

Citizens of the other America are more intolerant, more discriminating and believe that America belongs to only them, again based solely on the color of their skin. They are willing to deny, to forget, and to ignore the Native Americans who were here before their ancestors arrived. Citizens of this America choose to ignore and to forget that this country was built on the backs of black slaves and other immigrants whose skin color came in different hues and shades.

There has always been two Americas masquerading as one, but both fighting for influence, fighting for dominance when it comes to politics, economic stability, and educational achievement. Both, under one flag proudly representing, tugging, and diametrically opposed forces—both claiming to be the right path toward greatness.

There are two Americas. There has always been two Americas masquerading as one great benevolent melting pot.

What a journey! One America seemed to have been winning until recently.

Which America are you a part of?

Which America do you claim as yours?

More importantly, which one will prevail?

Maybe neither because there are those who are determined to move America forward by going backward. And there are those equally determined not to allow them. Which America will prevail? Maybe neither.

Feature photo credit: NoozSaurus.com

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Janice Ellis
Janice Ellis
Janice S. Ellis, PhD, is an award-winning author. Her book, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other major book sellers. She has written a column for newspapers, radio, and now online, where she analyzes educational, political, social and economic issues across race, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status. You can see her writings on this website.

1 Comment

  1. Michael Yates says:

    I cannot say that I agree with you on this. I do agree that there are two Americas, but the central idea that tolerance is the dividing factor is a false narrative. Take myself for example. I held my nose and voted for Donald Trump. Not because I necessarily agreed with what he said or did, but because out of the candidates that were available, he came closest to matching my political point of view. But to be fair, it was not because he was close, but that the other available candidates were further away than he was. I am an American Veteran. I am a patriot, a Constitutionalist, and a Libertarian. The issues that motivate me to vote have absolutely nothing to do with race, gender, etc. I believe in limited government, personal responsibility, liberty, and equality of opportunity (not equality of outcome). As such, I could not vote for Hillary Clinton. Her political and personal ideologies are almost completely opposite of mine. Plus, her failures as Secretary of State deeply bothered me. As for Gary Johnson, I have a major issue with his stance on a number of issues, the biggest one being his stance on gun control. So he was a no go. Jill Stein was the only Candidate that I disagreed with more on policy than Hillary Clinton (which is saying something). So, although I don’t agree with Trump on personal conduct, on political stand points, I find more common ground with him than any of the other candidates. I did bot vote for him in the primaries, if I would have had it my way, Rand Paul would have been the Republican Nominee. But, we don’t always get what we want. Now, i can’t pretend to know 60,000,000 people, but i know a lot of people who felt very similarly to tge way i felt going into the 2016 election. I also can say that I have rarely met a person who is motivated to vote or not vote based solely on hate. Although they do exist (And are some very irritating to try to converse with), they are the vast minority in America. Sadly, racial, sexual, age, religious, etc. discrimination will always exist because there are no shortage of fools in this world, but the bottom line is that everyone has something unique about them that makes them different than everyone else. But, everyone has a lot of things about tgem that makes them just like everyone else. It is truly sad to me that people want to focus on these minor differences and make it a huge deal on both sides. In summary, I think that this in particular statement you have made about two Americas is misguided and sad. I would encourage you to turn off the television and go outside of your comfort zone a little. You may not like all that you see, but I think that you would be surprised by what you find.

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