Submitted by Anthony Lopez, RTM, District 1, August 8, 2018
To every Progressive, Liberal, Center-Left, and Centrist, Center-right, Conservative, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green Party, Working Party, and everyone in between, it’s time to come home. It’s not time to come home to a party or to an ideology, but to the core set of values that make us American. There is no denying the tattered, and divisive history of our country. Neither can we deny the continuance of some of that history in every corner of our nation today.
Nevertheless, we as Americans are committed to the idea that we come from the same creation, and that we have all been granted the inherent right to be free, and to pursue happiness for ourselves and for our family. That is what makes our country unique in all of the world. It is what has underpinned every inch of progress that we have made.
Together, men and women of all races and creeds, religions and beliefs, have moved this country towards a better, more accepting, and inclusive future. The day when we wake up and every person is treated equally is not as far off as it may seem.
Despite what has taken place in the past couple of years, we cannot let go of the hope of a tomorrow where all of us have the same opportunities to grab hold of the promise of an American dream that assures us the reward of dignity and the ability to leave our children in a better position than our own because we worked hard and took advantage of opportunity.
It is this promise, this thread of hope, that I am asking you to come home to – the one that tells us that the best chapters in the American story have yet to be written.
I’m asking you to come back home and help millions of us who believe that America is better and stronger when we work together to ensure that everyone that resides within our borders has the opportunity to fully participate in the promise of America, to pick up your pen and begin the work of writing the next and greatest chapters in that American story. Partisanship and incivility can never stand against a citizenry that is united behind the principles of liberty and justice that truly does make America great. When we stand united, and have the wherewithal to continue the work of moving our nation towards the realization of the independence that we declared to the world one fateful day in 1776, there is nothing that can constrain us.
America is not a collection of disparate states. It is a nation united by a core set of values that signify we are more alike than we are different, that we are all guided by the desire to do better and to be better, and that we all – at our core – just want our tomorrow to be better than our today.
I know that there are serious conversations to be had, and deep divisions around policies and ideology that need to be figured out. But, that is why it is critical that we rally around our values, instead of our politics. We must be guided by hope and not fear.
The greatness of America lies in who we are, and who we strive to be together – one nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. It’s time for all of us to come back home.
Anthony Lopez
RTM District 1