A Dark Day

As the daughter of a military man, I was raised to be a patriot.

I remember vividly playing outside as a young girl and taking a break in my play to place my hand over my heart at the end of the day to honor the flag as it was lowered on base. I proudly stood up in the base movie theater to salute our national anthem that preceded the show. 

Later, as an adult, I supported our troops - including my husband – as they went off to Desert Storm despite my misgivings about our country’s involvement, and I sang loudly “Proud To Be An American” with love for our great nation. 

Eight years ago my heart soared as America showed it was ready to break some glass ceilings and elected (and then re-elected) a Black man to lead our country. I was proud of what he accomplished, despite the opposition of members of congress. I was proud of how much progress America seemed to be making in the name of fairness and equality. I reveled in how America seemed ready to be the best example of how a diverse and culturally rich population could live harmoniously. Oh, I knew that we had problems, that our government really needed to fight against the oligarchy it had become, but I sincerely thought those changes were on the horizon.

And then my country elected a bigot to the presidency – a man who stands for the exact opposite of what I hold dear; a man who is supported by, and encourages, hate groups; a man who embodies in the very worst way the entitlement of rich, white males; a man who will endorse legislation that will set our country back decades….

Today I hang my head in shame.