There was heavy concern among the Founding Fathers about whether we the people would be able to govern ourselves after breaking away from England.
Some early leaders like John Adams and Alexander Hamilton did not really believe the folks could come together to form a vibrant democracy -- Adams and Hamilton favoring a strong central authority to dictate behavior.
They were wrong. The individual states prospered and America became the most powerful country the world has ever seen.
But we are not perfect. Blacks were treated horribly and that fact still resonates today.
Also, Native Americans were exploited and brutalized. So were many whites as the nation forged a civilization.
But now some who hate this country are trying to tear down the social fabric.
They are doing so by dividing Americans along racial and economic lines.
Listen to this exchange on CNN International:
HOST: “Is racism built into this country? Is it in the hearts of many Americans?”
PATRICIA WILLIAMS LESSANE, PH.D., COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: “Oh I definitely think that's the case. We see it playing out in the narratives we see in the media. The way our president is described and stereotyped and caricatured. The way black children are considered thugs and when their white counterparts do the same thing they are said to have had mental illness. There's a different narrative where black people are consistently and historically described as violent, savage, wild and this isn't anything new.”
That kind of stuff sends a hateful message to younger Americans in particular and others around the world who don't understand our society.
As usual, the stats tell the story.
According to the FBI, there were 1,163,000 violent crimes in 2013.
Only 3,500 were classified as race-based hate crimes.
So you can see that in a nation of 320 million people, we are not awash in racial warfare.
In fact, legal protections make it almost impossible to be outwardly hostile to a minority in the workplace.
I have traveled to 80 countries, and I can tell you there is more racial harmony in the USA than in 90% of the places that I visited.
Yet the America-haters are trying to brand this country as racist and they are succeeding to some extent.
Now back to the social contract.
The men who designed America well understood that each of us have responsibilities as citizens.
We must obey the law, we must work for our daily bread and we should pay enough attention to elect honest leadership.
But how many of us are fulfilling our part of the bargain?
With more than a million violent crimes every year in the USA, there's a problem.
And now with nearly half the country willing to vote for a socialist for president, another huge problem is brewing.
By the way, that stat is from a recent Gallup poll.
The truth is America is changing, and those that dislike the country are taking advantage of the social chaos.
They are selling rank propaganda that white supremacy drives the government.
That the workingman and woman cannot get ahead.
That all authority is corrupt.
That's corrosive hateful and dishonest in the extreme.
Yet if you defend America, as we do here, you will be viciously attacked and few defenders will come to your aid.
And that's why the haters are making so much progress.
And that's the memo. |