Weekend self-care open thread: I, too, am America
We shall begin today's sermon with a reading from the tzaddik Langston Hughes.
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
Love of country and love of government are two separate things, and should never be confused. As Mr. Hughes averred above, we are all as American as anyone else who claims exclusivity to that title.
When my mother was in her slow decline, she would often tell me that it would take four generations for an immigrant, or the child of immigrants, to be considered "American." And I remember what I told her: No. We are as American as anyone who can trace back to the Mayflower.
Our enemies wish to Other us. They wish to erase us from the American commonwealth. They wish to rewrite the dark, bloody, wonderful, hopeful history of this country. They wish to excise us from the conversation, while making themselves the only actors in this great play.
They can try. They will fail. I will not allow them. We will not allow them.
They, too, are America. A dark America. A backward America. An America of evil. And they cannot be ignored. For this is our history, as much as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is. When liberal Christians say that MAGA Christians are not "real Christians", they are incorrect. Anyone can call themselves a Democrat. Anyone can call themselves a Republican. And anyone can call themselves Christian. And they have as much claim to those terms as we do. And anyone can call themselves "American", from Cesar Chavez to George Lincoln Rockwell. And we, as citizens, have to take that in. Just because we hate what they represent doesn't mean that they are not born from this land of blood, sorrow, joy, and contradictions.
Our task is to expand what it means to be American. What it means to be human. And in doing so, we must always elevate the good, the inclusive, the kind, the joyful. As I wrote this week, hate cannot be fought with hate. Hate can only be conquered by joy, by love. Donald Trump is American. So is Kamala Harris. Our work as a people is to suffocate the America which Trump represents, and raise up the one which Kamala does. But we can't do that by saying, "Oh, Trump isn't America." Yes, he is, to many people.
We, too, are America. And we will shame those who go to bed every night thinking we are not. And we will defeat them. They can join us. Or they can die in obscurity. But I, certainly, will not surrender to them.
As always, dearest friends, be ever kind, gentle, and joyful to yourselves and those around you.