Donald Trump, the Republican Party nominee in the United States' 2016 presidential election, has vowed to "Make America Great Again!" He has shaped his campaign around this slogan, even building his website centered around it, claiming it as his "whole theme." Although Trump was not the first to coin the phrase, as a version of it originated during Ronald Reagan's candidacy, he has gone as far to trademark the catchphrase, making it a legal issue for other candidates to use the phrase to promote themselves. It's unfortunate that Michelle Obama didn't follow in his footsteps and trademark her entire 2008 Democratic National Convention speech prior to Melania Trump's reiteration at this year's Republican National Convention (see CNN).
"It's a very exciting time for America," states Trump's website. "Together, we are making history. Together, we are bringing back the American Dream. The time is now. Together, we WILL Make America Great Again!"
...Again?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of the word "again" is "returning to a previous position or place." What previous position or place does Trump plan on reverting America back to? And why isn't America great right now?
Maybe he's referring to the mass genocide committed when America was first "discovered." Or maybe he's referring to the America that enslaved Africans using cruelty and forced them to work without pay benefiting only white plantation owners. Or maybe he's referring to the multiple centuries that people of color experienced severe segregation, inequality, racism, discrimination, violence and rejection. Or maybe he's referring to the America that passed the 15th Amendment, allowing black men the right to vote, just to be followed by almost a century of state legislations negating that right. Or maybe he's referring to the 72 years women spent fighting just for the right to vote, enduring beatings and incarcerations, along with two failed efforts for the 19th Amendment to pass Congress. Or maybe he's referring to when women couldn't receive equal education opportunities. Or maybe he's referring to the historical yet ongoing times of women, especially black women, receiving unequal pay for equal work. Or maybe he's referring to prior to just a few years ago when same sex couples didn't have the right to marriage (The Roanoke Times).
If any of this is the case, the America that Trump is trying to "make great again" is one that benefits only/primarily the white, heterosexual male, like himself, rather than the greater good. It's completely antithesis to the continuous, long journey of progress that the United States has made since its establishment, and reverting the nation to any position or place that it has already grown out of is taking ten steps (or more) in a digressing direction.
With his catchphrase, Trump paints a portrait of America with brushes of despair and ruin. He creates an image of the United States as a nation in peril- one in need of a "strong, smart leader" like himself (see one of Trump's speeches, probably).
In his acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, Trump focused on the many themes he has been focusing on throughout his campaign, including but not limited to undocumented immigrants, terrorism, and criminal-caused cop fatalities. He promises to cure the nation of these current epidemics and to "lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace." In his speech he describes the state of the United States pessimistically, using words like "crisis" and "chaos." Through his rhetoric and bigotry, Trump fuels the Mean World Syndrome, or the belief that the world is a far worse and more dangerous place than it actually is, that many Americans have come down with, while simultaneously, somehow, portraying himself as the light at then end of the tunnel.
In rebut, while the position of our nation is not ideal, America is still great and is definitely greater than it has been in the past in more ways than one, despite the picture Trump is painting. Through the Obama Administration, the violent crime rate has continued to decline, according to the latest final available FBI data. Furthermore, contrary to Trump's claims of a continuous rise in danger and criminal-caused deaths of officers, 2015 was one of the safest years for police officers in recorded history (Huffington Post). Also, just over the past eight years, gays and lesbians can serve openly in the military for the first time, banks have been recapitalized, Osama Bin Laden has been eliminated, and the war in Iraq has ended (Washington Monthly). While these are just a few of the progressions that America has made, and only within the past decade, the nation, despite its flaws and current setbacks, is still great. Rather than reverting back to any past position, America must move forward and learn from history, not repeat it.
As Arianna Huffington, co-founder, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group wrote, "Trump has rebranded America as a dark, hostile, pessimistic, fearful place. And he only wins by building that place in our minds... Trump is, in essence, shorting America. That’s his bet. And that’s the bet we must reject - not only at the polls but in our minds and hearts."
