I am a perpetual Pollyanna. I believe if you look for good, you will find good but the same is true of evil. We bid adieu to one president and welcome an other. While I face today with a mixture of emotions, the greatest of these is hope.
Whether you voted for Trump or not, he’s what we have for the next four years. My hope is he will be better than expected and live up to his promises.
When President Obama was elected I had hope. Hope that the lines between the races would be blurred and we would no longer need to mark boxes labeled white/Caucasian, African American or Asian, we would all be American. The only time race would be an issue would be in the doctor’s office, and those times would be rare. But that did not happen. Instead we are even more divided. We have segregated ourselves into fractures and pieces.
What should have united us, has shattered us. We have become a frightened, angry mob. We have trampled our neighbors and our children in the name of religion and a return of American pride. But where is our pride if we judge one another by the color of our skin or who we voted for? Not every black or African American voted for Obama and neither did every white vote for Trump. We each made choices based on what we believed.
As a democrat I voted for Obama during his first term. He reminded me of President Jimmy Carter. President Carter was the first president I campaigned for. I wasn’t old enough to vote but I was so enamored by the political process and my civic duty. I followed that campaign and discovered the cruelty of the media and the fickleness of the public and the willingness of our elected officials to stall good leadership in the name of party fidelity. I saw it again with President Obama.
Regardless of your feelings for the president past or present, the office deserves respect. I hope and pray the person in office realizes that as well. I will pray for the Obamas because transition isn’t easy. And I will pray for the Trumps because the next four years are not going to be easy.
I pray that President Trump embraces all of America and remembers that it took each of our ancestors to make this country strong.
Am I any more American than the Chinese that built the railroad, the slave that built the south, the Indian who sacrificed everything to conform only to be booted from their homes? America was built on the backs of black men, Irish, Italians willing to work the hardest, dirtiest, most dangerous jobs just to give their families a chance at a better life. We each have a story to share. Like a great patchwork quilt, our stories are joined together to create this great nation. There are stains, many things in our past and not so distant past, that makes me cringe. America isn’t perfect but I am still proud to be an American. And I ask only this, please Mr. President do not take my pride away!
Praying for Our Nation
