Let me be brutally honest: America was never great.

I know, I know. How can I say that? I was born in America, I grew up in America, and I've never even stepped foot in another country. This is my home. People should be proud of their homes, right?

Well, sort of. If your house has rot in the walls and a crumbling foundation, you don't ignore them in favor of the shiny new appliances. You fix the problems first, so you can truly be proud of your home. To claim greatness while blatantly overlooking the glaring deficiencies in our country is to do it a tragic disservice.

The United States of America was not great when it was founded. How could it be, when it began with Christopher Columbus, a noted slave owner, rapist, and genocidal brute, staking claim on land that was not his to claim? Not to mention the horrific oppression of two entire races of people. I mean, America was founded on the blood of Native Americans and with the blood of enslaved Africans. It definitely wasn't great then.

It's arguably become better since, but there are still innumerable stains on the history of this nation, and I'm not proud of them. In no particular order: the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments, the Civil War (and the countless others before and after it) the annexation of Hawaii, the Tulsa race riot and MOVE bombing, MKULTRA, the American eugenics movement, compulsory sterilization, public lynching, the Pulse shooting, Japanese internment camps, the semi-recent drone strikes in Pakistan….

That's not to mention the countless others and the general and still rampant racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and overall hatred still running through the veins of this so-called "great" country.

You might be wondering why I don't just leave, then. I get it. If I think this country is so bad, why am I still here?

Because like I said, it's my home. It's because of my disapproval of its practices that I must stay here. I, like every other American who dissents against its policies, have a responsibility to promote change where it is needed. And we sorely need it in this country. Our government is made up of civil servants. They are meant to represent and serve the public. I am part of that public, and so is every other American - so if they aren't correctly representing and serving the public, I have the right to protest that. I have the right to call for change.

I criticize Donald Trump. I protest Donald Trump. I do the same for any government official who I don't believe is serving America and its citizens effectively. When we as Americans cease criticism of elected officials, we are relinquishing our most precious freedoms.

Donald Trump claims we need to make America great again. The implication here is that there was a time in the past that our country was at its ideal and that Trump is the only person who can reverse the clock and bring us back to it. Back to what? A time when the lynching of black Americans was a social event? A time when women could not vote or own property? A time when America's biggest concern was the mass murder of this country's Native people?

Even if you are a Trump supporter, it's unlikely you agree with his every policy. Sticking your head in the sand and chanting "Make American Great Again," while ignoring the fact that your President is flawed like any other human is only detrimental to you. If you're so proud of our "great" country, shouldn't you take advantage of your First Amendment right and freely speak your complaints?

So yes, I will continue to criticize, protest, dissent, oppose and resist Donald Trump and any member of the government of this country who I feel is harmful to me or other American (and even non-American) people in any way.

Isn't it American that you do so too?

"[..] whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. […] But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."