When Trump was campaigning with the slogan “Make America Great Again,” I couldn’t figure out what that meant. Great? Again? (Of course, its substance was only in serving as a marketing tool for his campaign.)
Part of the answer came when my husband and I were in Santa Fe a couple of weeks ago. While browsing shops in the Plaza, I engaged in conversation with a gallery owner who had emigrated from Iran decades ago.
As we proceeded with our window shopping, I spoke briefly with others who were born and raised in other countries. The conversations were warm, personal and comforting – they were humanity connecting.
As we walked back to the hotel, it suddenly hit me – it’s the diversity! That is one of the things that (already) makes America great... the vast array of people from varied cultures; the melting pot! It is an opportunity to expand one’s horizons, to help those who seek asylum, to be exposed to social diversity – different foods, styles of dress and belief systems, to name just a few.
It is a celebration, captured by the Emma Lazarus poem inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free….”
Now I am asking myself, is Trump making America “great?”
He has mandated blocking emigrants, supported removing or diminishing health care coverage, reversed laws that protect the environment and encouraged the dismantling of our public school system. And in the name of what?
Can someone please explain?
Gale Marinelli
Durango
