On Monday night, Michelle Obama delivered a very emotional speech at the Democratic Convention. In her speech, Obama reflects on how just eight years ago, she was giving a speech at the same convention to persuade America to vote for her husband. She goes on to mention how the White House helped to shape their daughters into the people they would become. Throughout her heartfelt and passionate speech, Obama makes several key points, but one especially stood out to me.
"So, look, so don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth!"
As soon as she said this, the first thing I thought was you're right. For months, Trump has been telling us that America needs to be great again. That our country is no longer a great place to live. That somehow, he will be the one to make it great again. It seems that we have forgotten how far our country has come. It was only 96 years ago that women got the right to vote. It was only 56 years ago that the birth control pill was approved. It was only 26 years ago that the Americans With Disabilities Act was signed. It was only eight years ago that the first African American president was elected. It was only one year ago that same sex marriage was made legal in all fifty states. It was only this year that a woman became a presidential nominee.
How can we so quickly forget that our country is constantly aiming to become a better place? Yes, we will face setbacks, and there will be obstacles in the way. But, the great thing about America is that we try our hardest to go forward despite these challenges. We are on our way to becoming a greater nation, not trying to make our nation great again. We are working to improve America, to make it even greater than it is now. We are striving to overcome these challenges, and to make it a better place to live in. But, most importantly, we are working as hard as we can to make it the best that it can be.
So, thank you Michelle Obama for reminding us that we do live in a great nation, and we should be proud to call America our home.