Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for September 05, 2016

An open letter to Trump’s white supremacist followers (or “lynch mob,” as many view you). The rest of us are not fooled by your leader’s dog whistle. We know that the real message which has you so worked up is “Make America White Again.” All the rest is subterfuge and misdirection. This is not going to happen and the benefits of living in a diverse, multi-cultural society to those of us who have progressed past the 18th century is what truly makes America great. We have problems to be sure, but Donald Trump and the bigotry and hate of you, his followers are not the solution to them. Our country’s founders had the vision and foresight to anticipate America having the room to grow and evolve past the ignorance of their times in which slavery was acceptable as well as women-as-chattel, genocide of the native people, bigotry against people of the “wrong” religion, etc. And the country has grown and evolved, except for you. It’s time to grow up and move into the 21st century. There will be taco stands as well as Chinese food, chitlins, bagels, falafels, pizza and the whole universe of diverse foods as well as customs and manners of dress and religious beliefs, languages, and skin colors, and sexual orientation, etc. It is this true American exceptionalism, the acceptance of variety and diversity that the Founding Fathers foresaw that will eventually bring the rest of the world around from their outdated modes of thinking and violence against those who are not exactly like them. We hope you’ll join the rest of us and now. Do you really need to go through another civil war before you realize that violence and hate is not the solution to anything?