“Make America Great Again”

During the recent election season, our president-elect Donald Trump said things that enraged a large portion of society, while the other half of Americans embraced his racist, homophobic, and sexist remarks. Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” calls attention to many questions. What does “great” mean and who gets to define it? When was America truly “great” and how do we get back to this imagined “great” period in our history? Does the definition change based on ones perception? Is Donald Trump’s definition of “great” a time when it was socially acceptable to say racist, homophobic, and sexist remarks?

Donald Trump’s great America instills fear in many. His definition of great is reflective of the patriarchal society ruled by Christian white supremacy and heteronormativity. It is designed for white, upper-class, straight, Christians to thrive off of the discrimination of the minority. He labels Muslims as terrorists, blacks as thugs, women as inferior, disabled people as a joke, and the poor as lazy. His definition justifies mass incarceration of people of color and allows for discrimination. Donald Trump’s “great” America is only great for the for the white men and women who benefit from it and choice to ignore hatred and bias.

When was America “great” by Donald Trump’s definition? Was a America “great” before president Obama was elected, before the idea of having a black president was ever thought of as a plausible reality? Was it before the civil rights movement of the 1960s? Or during the Jim Crow south, a time of extreme racism and violent public lynching’s? Is his “great” America pre-civil war? Was America “great” during slavery? Is tearing families apart and treating people as property something that makes a country “great”? Was America “great” when our founding fathers wrote “all men are created equal” while many of them were slave holders?

“Make America Great Again” is a vague and objective statement. From the perspective of people who fall outside of the mainstream Christian, white, heterosexual, patriarchal society, American history does not seem very “great,” whereas, from the perspective of a white supremacist, America was at its best during slavery or under Jim Crow laws. It seems that Trump wants to “Make America Great Again” by going back to a time when it was socially acceptable to be overtly racist, homophobic, and sexist. My fear is that half of the country supports him, and under his administration, progress for equality will be halted or reversed.