Dear America,
We live in a country so backward that, despite its homophobic history, it can’t see straight.
The amount of problems we have is insane. If it’s not racism, it’s sexism, a complete lack of gun control, immigration or religious oppression. This doesn’t include our issues of judgmental people, idiocy, misinformation, homophobia, corrupt leadership or the environmental crisis.
It’s embarrassing to be American. People from other countries use it as an insult. It's been 226 years since we gained our independence, and we still haven’t grown up.
Before all you bootlickers start with the “Go ahead and leave,” let me remind you — I wouldn’t be here in the first place if it wasn't for your savage ancestors. Who is going to pay for me, my family and community to leave and renounce our citizenship? Also, why is criticizing our country met with hatred as if criticizing the government isn’t what this country was founded on?
America has politicians and citizens who think protesting for equality for all is worthy of death by cop. However, they consider an insurrection with bombs and guns patriotic. Some people are still convinced the 2020 election was stolen all because Donald Trump, an alleged rapist and admitted misogynist who believes it’s okay to “grab women by the p*ssy,” told them so. Yet they have no words for Trump’s suspicious ties with Russia during the 2016 election. During the insurrection, it was U.S. citizens who wore “6 million wasn’t enough” or “Camp Auschcwitz” shirts in reference to the Holocaust.
In America, wombs are less protected than guns, and tragic school shootings are commonplace. The United States is a place where teachers are paid an average of $32,496 a year according to ZipRecruiter but also are expected to be Child Protective Services agents, babysitters and armed soldiers.
It’s a place where police can kill unarmed Black people. Police have killed them by shooting them 60 times for running away and kneeling on their neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. All because they “feared for their lives.” But in Uvalde, Texas, we see police run in fear and stand around for 90 minutes during a mass shooting.
The United States, where even amidst a pandemic, people found a way to make COVID-19 racist and blame Asian and Pacific Islander communities, but they won’t wear a mask or get vaccinated.
Men in this country argue over rights to use body parts they don’t have instead of working to improve our maternal mortality rate, which is the worst among developed countries. This country is so divided on abortion people were debating whether a 9-year-old rape victim should be forced to give birth to a baby.
This country, where our government chooses to ignore the climate crisis despite science warning us that we don't have much time.
This country was built on stolen lands but has an issue with immigration. Our entire country was taken from other people — not just from Indigenous people in the continental states, but even possibly illegally possessing Hawaii due to the lack of an annexation treaty. This is a place where the prison system is modern day slavery and houses 25% of the world’s prison population. America’s regular population is only 5% of the world’s total.
I hope one day we can grow up and come together. The things that divide us, like racism, sexism and bigotry would often be eliminated with compassion, empathy and knowing how to mind our business. We don’t have much time. It’s time to do better.
