I want to acknowledge you. I realize you have your agenda. I have to believe that you’re doing what you believe is right for this country.

There is something to be said about America regaining its former strength. Our country is rife with problems and hasn’t always taken a strong stance on the issues that matter. We do have a lot to fix.

One reason why we have earned the right to be the world’s superpower and guarantee economic cooperation, interdependence, and the security of many nations is that we have stood for democracy, tolerance, and equality. We have been a friend to many nations. We have stood up for what’s “right” in the world. The world accepts our hegemony because we’ve been the “benevolent hegemon.”

History shows that periods of isolationism, nationalism, and contraction have been periods of darkness.

Making America great again is a concept I can get behind. What makes America great is opportunity and plurality in ways of being. Our role on the global stage is to promote freedom, ensure security, and help fuel economic growth.

Let’s invest in education, infrastructure, saving the planet, technology. Enlightenment. Progress.

That’s the way to make this country great again.

I wish I had something more eloquent and well-researched to say, but I’m lazy, and I just wanted to start by saying something.

Race is a hard thing to talk openly about in America. There is always the sense of treading carefully, making sure not to offend, and speaking while trying to see things from another side’s perspective that you couldn’t possibly understand.

I woke up this morning and opened Facebook. “Asian American Are Now Being Targeted for Harassment After Donald Trump’s Victory.” The rhetoric around Trump’s ascendance is becoming unproductive. Hellooooo, we’ve been targeted for a long time. Those same people did not become racists overnight. This is not the first time they’ve told someone to go back to their country. Now they’re just adding the tagline, “Trump is president now” to validate it. They were racists before. That is the problem. Trump is not to blame for their racism. This us-against-them polarizing rhetoric is not the way to make progress in our country. There are more structural issues at play that needs to be addressed, not through lobbying barbs and calling each other stupid and hateful. With the exception of some of the socio- and psychopaths among us (whatever the clinical distinction is among them), I do believe people have the best intentions but maybe lack the perspective. That perspective – articulating it in a way the other side can not only understand, but feel. Continue reading Race rhetoric and blame in America →