(ThyBlackMan.com) To determine if America was and is great you first have to ask the question “great for whom”?. If you are a “white” male of privilege, heavily indoctrinated and live in a sleep bubble of denial, ignorant of history and you have very little contact with people of other ethnic groups, you may believe America was and is great. But that is because you lack perspective, the experiences of others and a balanced and accurate world view. If you are an asleep Cointel Pro African American sell out with no real sense of self, identity and the history of your people, you may also believe America was and is great. But if you are honest, empathetic and a realist who knows history and looks at the facts, your view will be very different – and likely more accurate than the others aforementioned.
Recently Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a public speech, said America was not that great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJECaXs-pZA He was both honest and accurate but the crowd responded with gasps and in shock. Yet when Donald Trump publicly said America was not great now and that he could make it great again (meaning it is not now), Trump zombies stood with him and agreed. Trump in essence also said America is not innocent, but did anybody gasp or boo him?
America great? Yes for freedom of sorts and opportunity of a type. And yes great moments in American history do exist. But overall this country has a bloody foundation initiated by traitors of the British Crown who came here, betrayed, infected and killed the indigenous people, captured Africans and enslaved them, separated families, lynched human beings based on the color of their skin and made the families of the victims build a country that the traitors from England were too lazy and unequipped to build. The twisted irony is that the “founding fathers” of this country treated people worse than the country they came from was treating them. And a civil war had to happen to stop it, or rather I should say to make it switch from their overt approach to their covert approach.
THERE ARE MANY AMERICAN SUCCESS STORIES BUT ARE THEY BECAUSE OF AMERICA, BECAUSE OF CERTAIN ASPECTS OF AMERICA OR REGARDLESS OF IT?
President Donald J. Trump represents the true and real America overall but people just don’t want to admit it. The proof is in the millions of people who voted for him. Further proof is in the 
continued support he receives no matter what he does, how the Republican congress bows down to him and how is supporters make excuses for his words and behaviors. Racism, sexism, discrimination against African Americans and Hispanics, discrimination against people because of their religion, fear-mongering, division, alienation based on color and socioeconomic status, unfairness, punishment of people when they do not agree, immorality, name calling to dehumanize people (calling them dogs, low lifes and low IQ losers), denial of police brutality by refusing to address and solve it and the list goes on.
So for Trump (and many of his supporters), making America “great” again is a mass return to these warped beliefs and practices by the majority of American citizens. America today sounds an awful lot like it did before the civil rights movement. And do not be fooled because we had an African American president to keep us quiet, you can now buy a house or drive a Mercedes. We have come a ways but not nearly as far as it appears that we have. Ask Trayvon Martin or Eric Garner or Michael Brown or Sandra Bland or Philando Castile, if you could. So then ask the family of the man killed by police and how they are spending the less than a nickel his family was awarded. Or go to www.killedbypolice.net, look over the site and then tell me about justice for all in this “great” America. Or even Tell me about the great American war on drugs launched by Bush Jr. who then immediately cut the coast guard and customs officials budgets.
DONALD TRUMP DOES NOT BELIEVE IN AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM BUT PEOPLE FALL FOR HIS BS BECAUSE HE MAKES IT SOUND GOOD!
Tell me about the “great” America that has the largest incarceration rates of any civilized country of its kind. Tell me about the “great” America that has our precious veterans committing suicide every day or waiting 6 months for treatment they desperately need. Tell me about our “great” America where our congress plays politics with people’s lives and where they are bought off by corporate lobbyists instead of representing the people who put them in office. Tell me about our “great” America when Republicans in congress impede investigation and violate their oaths of office just to protect a corrupt, immoral and dishonest president. Tell me about a “great” country that incarcerates people for life on convictions of nonviolent crimes.
I AM STILL WAITING TO HEAR ABOUT THIS “GREAT” AMERICA
Tell me about a “great” America that just recently released a “black” man incarcerated long term for crossing a state line with a :white” woman. Tell me about a “great” America that makes a man pay child support based on the gross income he never takes home. Tell me about a “great” America that allows the use of tissue from murdered unborn babies in cosmetics and even food. Tell me about a “great” America with an FDA which allows bugs, waste, rat hair and poison cancer causing chemicals in our food. Tell me about a “great” America where the AMA sanctions the use of World War 1 mustard gas, a biological weapon, to poison the body and treat cancer patients under the name chemotherapy. I’m still waiting to hear about this “great” America. And while I know some of you can name many success stories, I submit to you a 50/50 split of good and evil does not make a country great.
What about the freedom? What kind of freedom, we should ask. Because freedom, like bondage, comes in many forms and has many aspects. Are you free from stereotypes, profiling and prejudice? Are you free to express yourself via your First Amendment rights or are there repercussions? I overstand laws are to protect us and for the common good, but you need to overstand you are not completely free in this country. Federal and state laws, city and county ordinances, home owner associations, job rules and regulations and a ton of regulatory agencies make sure that you are not as free as you might want to believe. Being able to walk around, drive around, buy what you want or get on a plane when you choose does not mean you are free. The definition is much broader than that, or at least it should be. I submit to you that freedom with negative payback, backlash or consequences is not freedom at all but rather an illusion of freedom.
To be 100% honest, American citizens were the collateral to secure the money America borrowed from the Federal Reserve and it was set up to be that way. Just like the slaves were the collateral for the money borrowed by slave owners and loaned out by some of the very banks you bank with today.
MOST PEOPLE SPEAK BASED ON EXPERIENCES AND BIAS! WHEN WRITING, EDUCATING AND INFORMING, I TRY TO STICK TO FACTS, EVIDENCE AND DATA
For honest people with their eyes open, freedom and opportunity are overshadowed by continued institutional racism, racial profiling, police brutality (www.killedbypolice.net or www.policemisconduct.net), sexism, discrimination by the president against Muslims, Hispanics and African Americans, disproportionate incarceration, 300 predator catholic priests molesting over 1,000 children for over 70 years (and the catholic church has been doing this even longer), neo-nazis, slavery, the invasion of this land by people who were traitors to the British Crown and who then betrayed, infected and killed the indigenous people of this land, the disrespect of the rights of others to express their First Amendment rights as they see fit, the racism towards Obama including Trump’s birther deception, Trump insulting our allies and bowing to and befriending our enemies and the list goes on.
The list of why America is NOT that great is much longer than why it is, like it or not. And the only ways you will not see this are if (a) you are purposefully in denial, (b) you don’t care or (c) you have been brainwashed not to see or a combination of the three. Wake up people. I recognize and concede there is opportunity here and yes I have benefited from it. I recognize and concede that everybody is not racist. I recognize and concede there were many contributions by many “white” people to help the African American community and many African Americans aided in the self-destruction and oppression of their own people. But we should never pick and choose history instead of looking at the totality of it.
However, I also know this land was stolen by European traitors from England. But most people are either brainwashed against the truth, in denial because of indoctrination or simply do not care as long as they have what they consider freedom and opportunity. And they are willing to ignore the entire history of this nation – from a racist national anthem to the killing of millions of innocent unborn babies through abortion. This country is the land of “do whatever you want” unless it means a “black” man dating a “white” guy’s daughter, mistreating a dog or cat or expressing your outrage against police brutality by taking a knee.
I will conclude by saying this, there are many good people in this country of all ethnicities. There are many opportunities, services and abundant resources as well. And there are even various freedoms we enjoy as Americans. But now turn over the coin and realistically look at the other side, the dark side. And when people turn on the microscope or the flashlight, we can see the whole truth. America is, like the governor said, “not that great”. The truth is not about being politically correct, it is about the truth.
Staff Writer; Trevo Craw