The Ugly Truth About Living In The United States

Living in the United States is getting harder and harder to be a privilege to call home. Especially when there seems to be no hope for those who are constantly marginalized in this country. With this administration, we’re getting a hefty spoonful of what it means to be living in the United States. And it’s a nasty spoonful.

Ultimately, I shy away from these issues because it’s the same result everytime. The same situations repeat themselves sooner or later and this makes me incredibly tired and hopeless. However, I’ve had some time to digest this and I want to do right in addressing this serious issue and the ugly truth about living in the United States.

Living in the United States has good benefits, but the country also has its ugly history, therefore, its ugly truth. The world saw this over the weekend. People everywhere were shocked that in 2017 people who pride themselves on Nazi ideals still exist. Well, I’m not surprised. I can’t talk about the good things living in the United States has given me today. Furthermore, I can’t talk about how fortunate I am to wake up and do the things I love and want to do. No, I can’t talk about that.

Some people may say that the blatant racism started after Trump was elected President, but I beg to differ. Racism has always been there ever since the birth of the nation. What has happened is that there is this thought that it is now okay to be offensive. However, this is not okay. We hear the term microaggressions here and there, but what does that mean? Well, it’s those snide remarks or gestures that seem so harmless but are incredibly rude and damaging. For example, “You’re not like every other [insert race here]”. When thinking about the Charlottesville riots filled with white supremacists, why isn’t it that we don’t say these things to those belonging to the same race? We don’t say, “Wow you’re not like those people”. We don’t say this because we know that not all people are like that.

So, I feel numb. I feel like getting to a time where there won’t be any of this nonsense is far away. My beautiful and wonderful friend, Camille, wrote an excellent piece for HuffPost last year about this kind of feeling and the ugly truth about living in the United States. I highly suggest reading it because she has such a real perspective.

What Is The Ugly Truth About Living In The United States?

The ugly truth is that history repeats itself. Sure, history can repeat itself in any country. However, with this particular issue, I feel like we are living in an upside down world. It’s sad and quite a frightening time for living in the United States. When I think of the many dreamers living in the United States, I think about my own dreams. I think about how I would feel if someone told me that I didn’t belong here. It would be so horrible if my dreams wouldn’t matter. That’s why I stand with dreamers and that’s why I stand with every group that is marginalized in this country. When thinking about these situations, I only have one question. How do we go on from here?

For those who aren’t living in the United States or haven’t heard about this in the news, you can read all about what happened in Charlottesville by clicking here.

Curious about dreamers and DACA, click here.

What are your thoughts about this situation? Do you feel like things will get better? Let me know in the comments!

As always, if you like these types of posts or if you are looking for more pieces that will make you think, click here.

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UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect the situation involving the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). The original focus was on the riots in Charlottesville.