Appearing at a recent bill-signing ceremony, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said: “We’re not going to make America great again; it was never that great.”
Perhaps the governor should take a break from speechifying and glance at the incredible landscapes spread across our nation. From sea to shining sea, our spacious skies and purple mountain majesties have been a feast to behold for centuries. With undaunted courage, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark documented the expansive American West. Decades later, John Muir worked to preserve the wilderness for future generations. That same beauty was captured by Ansel Adams’ camera.
Americans appreciate powerful images. Sculptor Gutzon Burglum carved the presidential faces into Mt. Rushmore and Norman Rockwell depicted the Four Freedoms. The realistic imagery of photographer Jacob Riis captured the harshness of tenement life in New York City and fueled reform efforts by showing how the other half lived.
America may not be perfect, but it has fed hungry people everywhere with its amber waves of grain. Thanks to Luther Burbank, George Washington Carver, Johnny Appleseed, and many others, the impressive variety of food grown here has made the United States a breadbasket for the world’s needy. After World War I and II, Americans led efforts, such as the Belgian Food Relief and the Marshall Plan, to assist millions of hungry Europeans. Today we lead the world far and away in development aid to Africa.
Greatness comes in many shapes and sizes, and American entertainers and artists have inspired us. As when Duke Ellington took the ‘A’ train and George Gershwin rhapsodized in blue, when Louis Armstrong shared his wonderful world or Aretha Franklin sought a little respect.
Jackie Robinson endured the wrath of racial prejudice as he paved the way in Major League Baseball. Helen Keller overcame gigantic obstacles and became the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor’s degree. Clara Barton took risks as a pioneering nurse who founded the American Red Cross.
Barton and others tended the countless men and women in uniform who have sacrificed all for their nation. From Valley Forge to Operation Desert Storm, from Sergeant York to Doolittle’s Raiders, and from Nathan Hale to the Army Rangers scaling the cliffs on Pointe du Hoc during D-Day, Americans have demonstrated bravery under the most difficult conditions.
It also takes courage to tackle the unknown. Consider Katherine Johnson, the mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics were critical to the success of the manned spaceflights of Alan Shepard and John Glenn. Scientists like Jonas Salk brought us the polio vaccine.
The president who led us through the Great Depression and World War II understood the devastation of polio. That experience guided Franklin D. Roosevelt’s leadership as he reminded us that we had nothing to fear but fear itself.
Our nation has been blessed with inspirational leaders. Among them was Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who in 1976 became the first African American woman to deliver the keynote address to a Democratic National Convention.
Jordan’s fear was that America would “cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual; each seeking to satisfy private wants.”
She urged Americans to “share a common national endeavor.”
If we pursue Jordan’s vision, we can enhance America’s greatness. A great nation isn’t perfect. The United States has flourished because it admits flaws. While that process may be painfully slow for those affected, it separates us from the tyrannical leaders of foreign lands who crush dissent.
By denying America’s greatness, Cuomo has inadvertently proven it. The United States is great because it allows the freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly. We can disagree with the New York Democrat, but he has every right to share his views.
Kendall Wingrove is a freelance writer from Okemos, Mich.
