"In Trump’s version, “American” is defined by3 propositions. 1-to be American is to be xenophobic: the good people of the heartland are under assault from aliens, elitists and outsiders. 2- America’s values were better during some golden past. 3- a true American is white. White Protestants created this country; everybody else is here on their sufferance" "Trump’s vision is radically anti-American. The real American idea is not xenophobic, nostalgic or racist; it is pluralistic, future-oriented and universal.Americans have always been divided on where they came from, but united in their vision of their common future. They’ve been bonded by the vision of creating a pluralistic home in which everybody can belong and be seen. Or as Langston Hughes wrote: “America never was America to me/And yet I swear this oath/America will be!”
At www.nytimes.com
