The US inspired admiration for democracy and hard work, but current politics under Trump threaten the country’s global promise.
It’s not surprising, given that – as US President Donald Trump repeatedly tells us – America is the greatest country in the universe, the US and its people have wandered in and out of my life over the years.
When I was at primary school, I had a terrible, and sadly unrequited, crush on an American girl on our class.
Her parents were missionaries with the Africa Evangelical Fellowship, who had a little community up the road from us.
I would ride past the place on my new bike, hoping for just a glimpse… It didn’t even bother me when the object of my adoration took first prize at school, forcing me into second.
Later, as my knowledge and understanding grew, I found my father also had an admiration for “the Yanks”, having been attached to a US Air Force (USAF) fighter-bomber wing as part of 2 Squadron, South African Air Force (SAAF), during the Korean War.
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Two things stuck in his mind: the only country in the world that would go to war with a Coke machine in the supplies. And, he was intrigued by the fact that their black pilots were all still treated as second-class citizens and kept as non-commissioned, rather than full, officers.
He was about to leave the SAAF and join the USAF in California – thanks to a recommendation letter from the CO of the American wing – when he met my mother in Cape Town.
Years later, as a young journalist, I did some “stringing” (freelancing) for the Voice of America’s English-to-Africa radio service, reporting on events in Namibia.
The people I dealt with in Washington were intelligent, all-round nice people.
And, even when they had to tell me they couldn’t run anything too critical of President Ronald Reagan and his “constructive engagement” policy with South Africa, they did it gently. And they paid me anyway.
I’ve always loved the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) nature of Middle America – although, to be honest, like most of the rest of my opinions about that country, that has been informed a lot by Hollywood.
I see ordinary Americans as hard-working, honest, and the sort who’d happily offer a stranger food and shelter if they were in need.
I also love the vast and changeable nature of the country – dare I say, second only to us in its variety.
A study of history has shown me that while the industrialisation of the US during WWII was what established the country as the world’s powerhouse, it was also those “factories of freedom” which helped liberate the planet from Axis tyranny.
I always thought that, for all its faults – especially in its foreign policy – the US was still the proverbial beacon of hope for democracy and freedom.
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That’s why I don’t like what the country is becoming under Trump. Much of it is racist, it’s nasty and, like its leader – whose supporters believe him almost on a par with Jesus Christ – it has settled into being a global bully.
The words “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” – the lines from Emma Lazarus’ poem, The New Colossus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, now seem mocking.
America no longer offers any hope to the world’s displaced and oppressed.
Will the country change if Trump leaves office in three years? Will someone equally dictatorial replace him?
Given that my granddaughter is part-American, I certainly hope the country can be made truly great again… and not in the way Trump talks about.
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