The US was founded on genocide of indigenous people and slavery was embedded in that society at the time

i’m not denying any of this. I fully acknowledge that these are terrible sins of our past. but the same founding fathers, the same ones who even practiced these horrible atrocities themselves, foresaw (or at least aspired to) a future free of these terrible inequities. And they also hoped that future generations would strive for a society free of them. And so we have succeeded… to some degree, and continue to work towards that goal. But just because we have not accomplished each and every goal to 100% does not mean that we have failed.

I’m proud to be part of a society that has accomplished these things at least to the point that we have so far. I’m proud of a society that continues to fight for these things, to achieve them further, even when a shameful segment of our society wishes to return to such a shameful past. And that’s my point.

It’s not so - pardon the pun - black and white. A great deal of progress has been made. Surly, there have been setbacks, but we are a lot better off than we used to be, and were constantly working towards that goal. And take pride in our accomplishments. I acknowledge our setbacks.

Or slavery? Or women and other minorities as second class citizens? Or every other form of inequality, tyranny, or whatever else was present at the end of the 18th century in North America?

No, actually. I wouldn’t call those a noble principals at all. But those are not the principles upon which those country was founded. They simply existed when this country was founded. There’s a difference, and I openly admit that, when this country was founded, those principles definitely seemed very mixed and muddled. And even very difficult to believe from those very men who espoused them. But it wasn’t up to them to live up to those noble beliefs, it was to their descendants— Us. And while we’ve done a pretty shitty job of it, no doubt, we’re better than they were. and that’s not nothing. Progress isn’t made in loops and bounds. It’s made in steps. The important part is that the steps are made forward, not backward.

What I’m referring, however, to is the noble principles spoken of in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution. The principles that the founding fathers aspired to, not necessarily those which they practiced themselves at the time. Even those men knew that we should all try to be better than we are. That our future generations will, hopefully, be better people than us. that our future society will be better than the one we currently live in, and that it is our duty to make that future possible.

I’m able to appreciate the good things about this country while recognizing the incredibly shitty things about our past and present. that should be pretty obvious after I spoke about being proud of those Americans who fight back against tyranny and oppression.

But I’m also able to recognize that progress is made in steps, not leaps. And the most important thing is that those steps be made forward, not backwards.