Thread by @KaitlinCurtice

We seem to be falling into this "good old days" trap, and I'm not really sure why.

Can you name a time in US history when the government wasn't oppressing Indigenous peoples?
Can you name a time in US history when Black people weren't overwhelmingly disenfranchised? 1/

In the wake of Trump, many progressives are yelling "This isn't who we are!" while continuing to ignore the plight of the oppressed who have always known this to be America. 2/

And that greatly worries me.
How can a nation founded on genocide and enslavement say it is anything but that?
How can a "Christian" nation own its complete hypocritical identity? 3/

So as we watch people at the border scream in terror, we need to look into that mirror and see who we really are.

We need to face it, deeply mourn, and work through this identity struggle. 4/

Because all of our institutions have worked to oppress people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, women, etc., and those institutions need to be held accountable, on all sides.

So let's not act like this is anything new.
We press on.
We work toward justice. 5/

I don't have many answers.

But I'm interested in our conversations, and I'm interested in how we get to conversations that actually produce positive results.

One way is to tell the truth-- the full truth-- about America.
We all must work toward that goal-- together. ///