If one thinks back across the ages, one realizes that bigotry doesn't belong to any one group, religion, or race; moreover, the victims of bigotry can be found in just about every representative group you can think of. In fact, I don't believe that there is a single group that has not been persecuted at one time or another. Of course we are all well aware of what has been done to black people and Native people in this country, but also to the Japanese (through the internment camps during World War II), Muslim-Americans, Latino Americans, and gays. Women of all races, religions, and creeds have had to suffer bigotry for hundreds and hundreds of years, and just about every major religious group has had its share of persecution. There is the long history of Jewish persecution, culminating in the ultimate crime that occurred under Hitler's domain. And of course the Muslim religion was assaulted during the Crusades, and continues to be assaulted to this day in this country and elsewhere. But let's not forget that Christians themselves suffered persecution under the Romans, and that the Romans (who ironically converted to Christianity) persecuted the pagan peoples of what is now known as France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, and Ireland. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
At the same time, we as a species are capable of so much kindness, bravery, and compassion. Look at the people in Europe who sheltered Jewish people from the Nazis, even though such folks would most likely be (and were) incarcerated themselves, or worse. Look at those who supported Abolition in this country, and who worked in the Underground Railroad just because they could not bear the idea of human beings treated as chattel, even though they themselves most likely would be severely punished for it. Look at Gandhi, look at Martin Luther King. All those who stood up and risked their lives, and even lost them in some cases, in the name of justice. For every awful deed done in this world by some, there are others who show us that we are capable of so much more.
I guess my point is that I think hatred and bigotry, and kindness and compassion, are not the provenance of any one group, but rather are the manifestation of the worst, and the best, of humanity itself. And therefore, if there are two Americas, they can be categorized, I believe, not by race or class or religion or education or region, but by those who either value ethics, fairness, justice, and hope, or those who value narrow-mindedness, hatred, division, and strife. To me, this site, and this election, has shown me what I personally consider the "real" America: the one where people from vastly different religious, economic, political, educational, and racial backgrounds come together for the common cause of justice; the America of We the People, the America of United we stand divided we fall, the America where we have the power to create our own destiny. And this year especially, I have seen that the America I've always wanted to believe in does truly exist after all.
Thanks for helping keep hope alive in my nervous, worrying ass. I really do appreciate it so much.
And thanks for reading.
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