When I hear the words “Make America Great Again,” I think of something very different from what you might expect. I don’t picture a particular president, a political party, or even a time when everything was supposedly better. I picture something I saw on television as a child. It was called Hands Across America.
In 1986, millions of Americans came together in an attempt to form one enormous human chain stretching across the country. There were Black people, brown people, white people, men, women, and children, all standing together holding hands. I remember watching them on television, and what stayed with me wasn’t the size of the crowd or even the purpose of the event. It was their faces. Everyone was smiling. They looked happy to be there, happy to be standing next to one another, and happy to be part of something bigger than themselves.
That is the America I remember. Nobody looked angry or scary. Nobody seemed concerned about who was standing beside them. They were simply Americans, and that meant we were all on the same side. I wonder when we stopped looking at one another that way. When did a stranger become someone to be suspicious of instead of someone to smile at? When did having a different opinion become a reason to dislike someone? And when did we become so comfortable being angry that happiness started to seem almost old-fashioned?
I miss the little things. People waving to one another, striking up conversations with strangers, laughing together, and lending a hand without first wondering who someone voted for. I miss the idea that we could have different beliefs, different backgrounds, and different ways of living without those differences defining how we treated one another. We didn’t have to agree on everything to enjoy one another’s company.
Part of what I remember is seeing people before seeing all the labels attached to them. They didn’t need to know someone’s politics or background to hold their hand. They just reached out. And while I know the world has never been quite as simple as it looked on that television screen, I can’t help wishing we could borrow a little of that innocence again.
Because when I think about what makes America great, I don’t think it’s how much money we have, how powerful we are, or whether one side wins and the other loses. I think it’s our ability to care about people who aren’t exactly like us. To find joy in one another. To be kind simply because we can. To remember that beneath all our differences, we’re just people trying to live happy lives.
For a long time, I honestly wondered whether I’d ever see that feeling again in my lifetime. But something about the Texas elections yesterday has given me a little hope. Not that all our differences will disappear, or that everyone will suddenly agree, but that perhaps we can begin finding our way back to one another.
I just want to see those smiles again. The laughter, the kindness, the simple happiness of being together. And for the first time in a very long time, I feel like maybe, just maybe, we could all hold hands again.
💙🤍❤️ Charlotte