We need activists in our nation
by
John J. Dunphy
(Published in the 7/20/19 edition of The Telegraph of Alton, IL)
The car bumpers of American conservatives in the late 1960s and early 1970s often sported a bumper sticker that read: “America: Love It or Leave It.” Those six words were their response to the demonstrators of that era, who organized anti-Vietnam War rallies across the United States. Rather than exercising their First Amendment right to free speech by protesting a war they thought both unnecessary and unjust, conservatives believed these anti-war activists should simply leave the country.
“America: Love It or Leave It” eventually became the standard conservative response to every social and political movement of that historical period. If women, people of color, members of the LGBT community and other minorities demanded an end to discrimination, conservatives demanded they leave the United States and put down roots in another nation more to their liking.
It’s hardly surprising that conservatives would adopt such an attitude towards those Americans who demanded change. Conservatives felt threatened by calls for justice and equality because they feared seeing their power diminished. They tried to discredit those who dared to criticize the status quo by claiming they were disloyal to the United States and should leave the country.
I hadn’t thought of those “America: Love It or Leave It” bumper stickers for years until Donald Trump tweeted on July 15, “IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE! It’s your choice and your choice alone. This is about love for America. Certain people HATE our Country.”
This was a follow-up to an earlier tweet in which The Donald suggested that four Democratic members of the House of Representatives, who are women of color, should “go back” to their “original” countries. Trump seemed unaware that three of the four Democrats he vilified were born in the United States. Ilhan Omar, though born in Somalia, has been an American citizen longer than Melania Trump.
While Americans of conscience were appalled by such explicit racism and xenophobia, Trump’s base was ecstatic. White nationalist Andrew Anglin posted on the Daily Stormer web site, “Man, President Trump’s Twitter account has been pure fire lately. This is the kind of WHITE NATIONALISM we elected him for.”
Trump’s tweets drew condemnation from Democrats and even a few Republicans, such as Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah. The Donald, however, remains adamant. The revulsion that his tweets triggered “doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me,” he told the media. “A lot of people love it, by the way.” Whether “a lot of people” love Trump’s vile remarks is debatable. Anglin’s post on the Daily Stormer, however, attests that Trump’s tweets resonated with white nationalists and other extremists.
Should Americans who criticize our country shut their mouths, pack their suitcases and leave the United States? Of course not. Indeed, we should be grateful that so many Americans throughout history have mustered the courage to criticize our nation.
Until 1865 slavery existed in the United States. If American abolitionists — both whites and free blacks — who opposed slavery had adopted a “Love It or Leave It” perspective, they simply would have moved to another nation where slavery didn’t exist. But abandoning three million men, women and children to lives of perpetual shackles wasn’t an option for them. They remained in our nation to fight slavery.
The lives of abolitionists weren’t easy. Those that participated in the Underground Railroad risked confrontations with armed slave-catchers. The law was on the side of slave-owners. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 mandated a $1,000 fine and a six months of prison time for anyone who offered shelter or even food and clothing for a runaway slave. But the abolitionists persisted — and eventually triumphed.
Like the abolitionists, today’s activists for justice and equality have no intention of leaving the United States. And every American who possesses a conscience should be grateful to them for staying put.
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John J. Dunphy is the author of “Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois” and “Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials: The Investigative Work of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, 1945–1947.” He is the Democratic committeeperson in Godfrey’s 15th precinct and serves as recording secretary of the Godfrey Democrats.