Arthur Camins, scientist and science educator, posted this message on his Facebook page:
There have always been two Americas. One is shameful and the other is admirable. Now, every citizen needs to decide: In which America do you want to live? For which will you take a stand?
We have been the America that stole land from and exterminated Native Americans.
We have been the America that limited the right to vote.
We have been the America that shackled and enslaved Africans, granted them freedom and then took those freedoms away.
We have been the America that has denigrated and excluded eastern and southern Europeans and Asians.
We have been the America that imprisoned innocent Japanese Americans.
We have been the America that turned its back on Jews who fled Nazi extermination, sending them back to their slaughter.
We have been the America that deported and detained dissenters.
We have been the America that has left people homeless and destitute.
We have been the America that threw off tyranny to establish freedom of the press, speech, and assembly.
We have been the America the expanded the right to vote.
We have been the America that was founded on the principles that prohibited the establishment of or interference with free exercise of religion.
We have been the America that took in refugees from around the world and welcomed dissent.
We have been the America that along with our allies liberated Hitler’s concentration camps.
We have been the America that takes care of one another.
Whatever, they say and whatever lies they may tell the disempowered, Trump and his empowered supporters are determined to bring back the former. People fought and died for the latter. The former brings us selfishness and hate. The latter brings us mutual responsibility and love.
Now, we are engaged is a fierce battle between two visions of America. You cannot be neutral. You have to take sides.
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
—
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Trump supporters will neither accept nor understand that.
Though, THAT should be a MoMA exhibit. Let supremacists and police alternately drive up publicity.
It is now our civic duty to dissent, deride and disobey.
Nor will Hillary haters who scream both sides!
I think there may come a time when I have to wear a hijab in solidarity with my Muslim neighbors if they don’t find it offensive.
Very sad it has come to this, but remember it is not just Trump in all of this, and not just his current supporters.
Trump’s unique strain of stupidity has made it through ranks upon ranks of elite scum and dupes.
IMHO, there is no side to take on; there is only being humanity or being savage within our souls regardless of the danger to our own well being.
In my own witness, during a shipwreck, a son, who loved his mother dearly, jumped into ocean to save his own life, whereas I saw a mother who tried to save her own two year toddler and preferred to die to save her toddler from a big water container (It was very heartbreaking and amazing to see how we pick up that toddler safely).
It is truthfully that only true humane love can save peace on earth with unity, sacrifice, goodness and mutual- understanding. Back2basic
There’s an interesting piece at The Atlantic by neo-con Eliot Cohen. Cohen was a staunch advocate for the invasion of Iraq, and he made any number of inaccurate statements about why war with Iraq was necessary. He served as a counselor to Condoleezza Rice ( she of the “mushroom cloud” theory) at the State Department. So he comes with a fair amount of baggage.
But even someone like Cohen has the wits to condemn Trump, noting that “because the problem is one of temperament and character, it will not get better.”
Cohen says that this is “a testing time” in American history (as if W’s administration was not). And he adds this:
“it will be a split between those obsessed with anxiety, hatred, and resentment, and those who can hear Lincoln’s call to the better angels of our nature, whose America is not replete with carnage, but a city on a hill…This is one of those clarifying moments in American history…There is nothing to fear in this fact; rather, patriots should embrace it.”
Cohen suggests that part of the problem with our current political culture is our “decayed systems of civic education.” He says Americans can overcome the damage portended by Trump by teaching “democratic values” and “fair-mindedness” to their kids. As if, poof, that will work.
I think Cohen, for all his flaws, has a point. American public education’s mission of promoting civic education has been badly damaged, “decayed.” put on the educational trash heap in favor of “college and careers,” and test scores.
If we are to turn this American experiment around, and point it in the right direction — the direction of democracy, and equality & justice, and tolerance, and freedoms for all citizens, and promoting the general welfare of the nation — then public schooling has a vital – indispensable – role to play. It seems to me that this truism is now beyond debate.
Obviously, this current administration – this nightmare come alive – has no commitment to public education whatsoever. We know that. We can see it.
So, when are we going to make our own commitment to public schools, and – importantly – to the democratic citizenship principle that should be at their very core?
Isn’t it already past time to embrace it?
The Atlantic piece:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/a-clarifying-moment-in-american-history/514868/
Democracy,
I wrote up that post last night and it appears, if I recall correctly, tomorrow. Great one.
Reblogged this on aunt polly's rants and commented:
Indeed! Which side are you on?
It’s no contest for me and others, I think, who truly have a heart. Choosing the latter is win-win, since you value truth and are using a critical, thinking brain, a full, caring heart and a concerned gut that genuinely wants the best for humanity, whereas the former is about making win-lose decisions aimed at filling your pocketbook and promoting ideologies based on belief systems which are only in your own interest, at the expense of the common good.
To me, the other side is a distinct, anti-social group. I have always disliked how they tagged calling people what they want to be called “politically correct,” when that is about being considerate and sensitive to the concerns and feelings of others, but THEY turned it into politics. Many people in the former camp agree with those who want to eliminate the teaching of social justice in K-12 AND college in TX. I believe a lot of the people in TX are the same folks who tried to add the elimination of teaching critical thinking skills to the GOP platform a couple years ago. (Of course, the opposite of critical thinking is not questioning and blindly obeying.) Since the Texans are supposed to be public servants, I think they, and those in similar positions, should all be required to take a civics course, which includes social justice, where they should be told to unquestionably obey an array of commands in ‘shoe on the other foot’ exercises, so they start to develop some sensitivity and empathy for humankind.