Where is my America?

 There are things I want to shout out:

"Will the real America please return? This can't be real!"
"I want my country back!"
"Where is my America?"

There are things I want to know:
Was "It's a Small World" as much a propaganda campaign for diversity as claims that asylum seekers are illegal aliens is a campaign against it?
What is the ultimate aim of Musk and Trump?
How can so many people be blind?

There are some things that give me hope, even if delusional hope:
Judges have ruled against many of the dangerous executive orders.
Lawyers have resigned rather than follow unjust demands.
Several people have privately pulled me aside and thanked me for saying what they could not.

I know some people who love me are anxious about my being outspoken. I should know better. After all, I am a Holocaust scholar. After all, as a college Romance Languages major, I read works written under the Vichy and Franco regimes. After all, as a theater person, I know how The Crucible wasn't really about the Salem Witch Trials but rather about McCarthyism.

However, I'm not speaking about school. I'm not speaking about students. I'm not speaking about private people.

I'm speaking about the injustices wrought upon American workers stranded in unsafe countries when the USAID funds were suddenly cut off.

I'm speaking about families who came here seeking Legal Asylum but who are living in fear because the current regime calls them "illegal" and describes them as "criminals".

I'm speaking about an Oval Office that suddenly aligns with the aggressors and alienates world peace organizations.

Yes, there are grey areas. There are imperfections in our system that are not as black and white as I make them. I'm sure that there are some unnecessary expenditures, and there are changes that can be made to improve our society.

What is not a grey area, though, is that fixing the country does not require suddenly tearing down bastions of American freedom. DEI is the heart of our nation, and the Oval Office has made it illegal.

"The heart of our nation?" you ask? Yes!

Diversity: we are a land of many people. Generation after generation of asylum seekers came here hoping for a better life, for the American Dream. The Pilgrims came seeking religious freedom. The Irish came to escape famines. The Chinese came, in part, to escape the Opium Wars. From the beginning, we have been a parade of immigrant waves since.

Equality: Our founding documents speak of "We the people" and cry out that "All men are created equal". Over time, we have filled in the meaning of equality bit by bit. Through well-fought battles, men of color got the vote, and through more advocacy, women got the vote. Civil rights movements ruled against "separate but equal" and have aimed to integrate the schools. Stonewall led to the Pride movement. It hasn't been easy, but "We the People" has been etched out through advocacy and legal record. Our founding fathers chose their words careful, and "Equal" was one of the first.

Inclusion: One of the strongest symbols of our country is the Statue of Liberty. Emma Lazarus's invitation of "Give me your tired, your poor..." is the pinnacle of inclusivity. Beyond immigration, we have worked as a society to bring inclusivity into the schools and the workplace. The American Dream is a land of opportunity for all.

I cannot be silent when my America is under attack from within. My writing is my form of patriotism. It is a way of supporting all people. It is a way of letting marginalized people know that someone can speak out for them.

Before this nightmare began, I had already written enough on my blog to be at risk if Musk and Trump come after free speech. A simple google search of my name will bring up videos of my research and advocacy efforts in the past. Anybody who knows me know what I stand for. I can't erase who I've been, and right now, who I am is needed. If I'm silent, they win. If I'm in danger now, I would have been in danger before.

What I write is with anger, but an anger borne of love.
Where is my America? It's in these words.
I write to keep it alive.