Real Americans

Something that you see a lot during times of political polarization or unrest are claims about what a "real" American is, does, believes, stands for. All sides engage is this rhetoric, but my observation is that the right wing pushes it harder. The idea that some of us aren't true Americans.

The truth is that America isn't just one thing, we're the left and the right, the good and the bad.

As a native New Yorker who has lived most of my adult life in Nebraska, I encounter this mindset manifesting a a belief that middle Americans are more authentic than "the coastal elites", and that Californians and New Yorkers are somehow less American than Nebraskans. Most of the time people don't realize that I'm a New Yorker, since after almost 40 years in Nebraska my accent has faded. But I found it profoundly insulting that when Bob Kerrey ran for the Senate seat that was eventually won by Deb Fischer, his time in New York was put forth as prima facie evidence that he was unfit to represent Nebraskans. Kerrey, who was born and raised in Nebraska, served in the Navy SEALs (and it always seems that you can't criticize a veteran unless it's a Democrat), started a business, and served the state as a Governor and Senator, was somehow tainted because he took a job in New York. (One of the reasons I so dislike Dan Whitney aka Larry the Cable Guy is his support of Fischer in 2012, promoting the "Kerrey is a New Yorker and therefore bad" story line)

After the last election, since Clinton support tended to be concentrated more in coastal urban centers than in central rural states, Clinton voters were derided as not real Americans. Football players who take a knee are called not real Americans. Trans people and their supporters are told that they're not real Americans. Democrats and liberals not only aren't real Americans, but hate America and are trying to destroy it according to the right wing. Anyone who opposes Trump hates America. According to Trump and his supporters real Americans live in middle America, not the coasts, they stand for the anthem, believe in "traditional" marriage, are Republicans, and most importunately, support Trump.

There is no "the American people".