Never will I understand the cognitive dissonance in those who tell minorities critical of America to “go back to where they came from” while actively supporting a president who campaigns on the idea that their beloved country is heading toward a state of despair and doom — a state that only a borderline-autocratic ruler can repair (Make America Great Again, anyone?).
Yet this cognitive dissonance was on full display in Greenville, North Carolina on Wednesday at Trump’s first campaign stop, when the crowd began chanting “send her back” in reference to U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar from Minnesota.
Trump let the chant continue for 13 seconds before speaking over them.
Surely, we’ve all questioned Trump’s brain capacity, but needing a whole 13 seconds to process the clearly xenophobic chant of his die-hard supporters? Even I had higher hopes for his intellect.
“Go back to where you came from” and “if you don’t like it then leave” is rhetoric I am all too familiar with. It’s rhetoric that every minority in America is all too familiar with. It doesn’t matter that people who look like me have gone on to become gifted writers and artists, serve in the armed forces and Congress.
It is our skin tone, religion, ethnic background that will prevent us from truly becoming Americans. After Wednesday, what minorities have always known has been confirmed by a political platform: this country belongs to white people and white people only.
Patriotism cannot be defined by hate. Patriotism also cannot be defined by support for Israel, a foreign country whose unquestioning loyalty is now a measurement for how American one is (as evidenced by U.S. Rep. Mark Walker’s “condemnation” of the chants.)
North Carolina will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a place that I associate with enlightenment and diversity of thought, thanks to its flagship university I attend. It’s the state whose residents of all different backgrounds have become my forever friends, where I matured and found my voice.
Yet the North Carolina I’ve chosen to celebrate is so, so different than the vitriolic hatred displayed at that rally on Wednesday.