We must work together to make America great

I am a white person, and I am writing as such. When white nationalists say they speak for me, I shout an emphatic “NO.”

I detest “blood and soil” — the idea, borrowed from the Nazis, that the nation and its land belong to white people. The only people who could possibly claim a version of “blood and soil” are American Indians. The rest of us are sitting on stolen land.

I deny that God authorized white people to conquer this continent.

White nationalists not only hold specious ideas of racial superiority and a lopsided version of history, but also deny the central role which people of color have always played in our country. They take for granted the well-being which they enjoy because of the contributions of every group in our society. To malign others and to strive to strip them of their legal and constitutional rights when you have been benefiting from their work is not honorable or worthy of America.

Perhaps the most outrageous thing is that white nationalists mainly claim to be Christians. Jesus tells us that we will be finally judged according to whether we cared for the most vulnerable. Even so, these “Christians” apparently have no problem with food and medicine being taken away from destitute people overseas, or with refugees being denied protected status, even if their lives would be jeopardized by being deported. Apparently, it is fine to incarcerate the stranger (and even citizens) in for-profit prisons where they suffer inhumane conditions, even resulting in death.

Is this how civilized Christians behave? Absolutely not. Whenever we stand up for our founding principles, we bring the American dream closer for us all. Let us do this together now and truly “make America great again.”

Jacqueline Vieceli, Mount Prospect