I hesitate to read newspapers anymore. It is getting really depressing. We seem to go out of our way to convince ourselves that we have morphed into a country that is fundamentally rotten. For too many our history is saturated with evil deeds that must be erased from our collective memories – – – and not only that, – – – we, today, are the culprits and must berate ourselves, atone ourselves and make amends. Whites today, who have never been slave-owners should pay reparations to Blacks, who have never been slaves. We have forgotten that 360,000 white soldiers died to free 4 million Blacks from slavery in the Civil War. We are led to believe that Whites hate the Blacks and Blacks hate the Whites, Asians are unwelcomed intruders, Muslims are a pariah. Our history must be cleansed and forgotten, our children must be re-indoctrinated, statues must be razed, names must be changed, prayers must be barred from public places and any occasion to celebrate unity or patriotism must be restrained, disparaged or ignored. We are a racist society and, for some, even the Statue of Liberty, that noble icon welcoming “the tired, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free” is now a racists symbol. The police are all bad and must be defunded, the indolent must be supported by those that work, our borders must be kept open to all comers whom we will happily sustain. Yes, do all these things and maybe everything will be okay.
To me, with all of the dark events in our history, with all the things we regret, with all of our faults and growing pains, we are still the bastion of freedom and opportunity. The hordes who endue great personal sacrifices trying to reach our country are an unmistakable testament to that.
So to those who bemoan our country, who protest at every opportunity, who foment violence, who denigrate our history and deny the giant strides we have made across the racial, ethnic and social spectrum, I have two suggestions. Either be an active, positive, peaceful participant to make right those issues still needing attention, or else find another country better suited to your disposition and preferences. The great thing about our border; you can cross it in both directions.
- – – – Just the view of a common man
Views of a Common Man 
I agree with all you have written and wish those who are so critical could visit other countries and make comparisons
Doesn’t the saying go,”If you are not part of the solution, you may be part of the problem.” Your comments are right on target. Maybe people should visit other countries so they might see how good we have it here, in spite of the problems we are trying to correct.
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