So, the Health Care Reform bill passed the House last night, and President Obama will sign it into law on Tuesday. This is a historic occasion, because it will help to provide insurance for over 30 million Americans who don’t already have insurance. Of course, there are dissenters among the ranks who don’t like the bill for the various different taxes and the like, which is to be expected. However, there are people who are lamenting for the “good old days” of America and some who want to see the America of their ancestors.
Respectfully, I disagree.
For those of you who want to see the America of your youth or the America of your grandparents, I want you to think about some things. This is pretty important, because you don’t want to kowtow into this all smiles and get egg on your face shortly thereafter.
There is a fundamental flaw in wanting “your country” back or wanting the “good old days” of America back; the flaw is, which America do you want? In asking for “your America” or “your grandparent’s America,” you will be alienating a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE. For instance, if you go back 30 years, you get to the point where homosexuals were treated worse than they are now, and they were ridiculed and prosecuted without malice. Case in point, look up Harvey Milk. When you’re done with that, we’ll move on.
Ten years prior to that, it was people like me. Black men and women were treated as bottom-class citizens, and were persecuted to the fullest extent of the law as quickly as humanly possible. We were hosed down with fire hydrants, attacked by police dogs, beaten within an inch of our lives and hung or burned because we wanted the same freedoms as you had. I’m sorry, but I think that all Americans should have the same rights, regardless of how they look or who they are. This was a black eye on this country for decades, and to want that America back is something tantamount to an epic failure.
If that’s not enough for you, let’s go back further than that. Let’s go back to when women had no rights. Let me say that again, because I think it bears repeating. WOMEN HAD NO RIGHTS. They didn’t have the right to vote, they really didn’t have the right to a formal education, they could be beat by their spouses with no fear of retribution; all they could do was get knocked up and clean house. If you’re a woman and you want this America back, then that’s all well and good, but I’m sure there are a lot of women who would disagree with that. I could go back farther, but I’m hoping you’re beginning to see my point.
Bottom line, some of y’all really need to think about what you wish for. Sure, this may not be what YOU want, but the alternative would be a whole lot worse than what it is.
After all, we could have your America.