make America great again now before you
all freak out and start thinking about
Trump which I know you probably already
have I don’t want to talk about Trump I
just want to focus on the phrase make
America great again again this implies
that America is not great now but that
it used to be so I asked you if America
is not great now then tell me when was
it great last year around the time of
the election I watched an interview on
The Daily Show where the host went
around and asked people that exact
question when was America great after
seeing the slogan plastered everywhere
around America for the past year and a
half and watching this interview it got
me thinking when was America great so I
decided to take a look at some
historically great times in American
history starting with 1776 the year that
our nation was founded this time was
viewed as a historically great time for
our country patriotism was at an
all-time high however when you think
about it was it really great well only
white male property owners could vote
many people owned slaves women had very
few rights and while religious freedom
was a right granted in the Constitution
religious tolerance was not a social
norm I don’t know about you but that
doesn’t sound too great to me
how about nearly two centuries later in
the 1950s you would think that in 200
years progress would have been made and
you would be correct during this time
period slavery was abolished women were
granted the right to vote and as a
nation we fought a war against religious
intolerance however was America really
great
well while slavery had been abolished by
this time the Jim Crow laws were still
in place making segregation legal women
still did not have the same
opportunities as men and religious
freedom was still a right granted in the
Constitution but religious tolerance was
still not a social norm that still
doesn’t sound too great to me how about
today when America is the
possibly no longer great well while some
people might not consider it to be great
it is certainly better than it was in
1776 or even in the 1950s the Jim Crow
laws have been abolished people of color
and women have the right to vote over
300 religious denominations are
practiced in America and people of every
race religion and gender are represented
in every line of work
however while constitutionally people of
color have the same rights as white
people people of color are facing
discrimination every day because of
their skin color while constitutionally
women have the same rights as men women
are making 78 cents to the dollar
and while constitutionally religious
freedom is a right people are still
persecuted because of their religion
these problems are not new they have
been plaguing our country for centuries
and as long as these problems continue
to exist America cannot truly be great
I believe that changes need to be made I
believe that we can make America great
but I do not believe that we need to
make America great again because I don’t
know about you but I can’t think of a
time in American history when America
was great for everyone I think that
instead of focusing on the past and
trying to make America great again
we should start focusing on the future
and how we can make America great
[Applause]
all freak out and start thinking about
Trump which I know you probably already
have I don’t want to talk about Trump I
just want to focus on the phrase make
America great again again this implies
that America is not great now but that
it used to be so I asked you if America
is not great now then tell me when was
it great last year around the time of
the election I watched an interview on
The Daily Show where the host went
around and asked people that exact
question when was America great after
seeing the slogan plastered everywhere
around America for the past year and a
half and watching this interview it got
me thinking when was America great so I
decided to take a look at some
historically great times in American
history starting with 1776 the year that
our nation was founded this time was
viewed as a historically great time for
our country patriotism was at an
all-time high however when you think
about it was it really great well only
white male property owners could vote
many people owned slaves women had very
few rights and while religious freedom
was a right granted in the Constitution
religious tolerance was not a social
norm I don’t know about you but that
doesn’t sound too great to me
how about nearly two centuries later in
the 1950s you would think that in 200
years progress would have been made and
you would be correct during this time
period slavery was abolished women were
granted the right to vote and as a
nation we fought a war against religious
intolerance however was America really
great
well while slavery had been abolished by
this time the Jim Crow laws were still
in place making segregation legal women
still did not have the same
opportunities as men and religious
freedom was still a right granted in the
Constitution but religious tolerance was
still not a social norm that still
doesn’t sound too great to me how about
today when America is the
possibly no longer great well while some
people might not consider it to be great
it is certainly better than it was in
1776 or even in the 1950s the Jim Crow
laws have been abolished people of color
and women have the right to vote over
300 religious denominations are
practiced in America and people of every
race religion and gender are represented
in every line of work
however while constitutionally people of
color have the same rights as white
people people of color are facing
discrimination every day because of
their skin color while constitutionally
women have the same rights as men women
are making 78 cents to the dollar
and while constitutionally religious
freedom is a right people are still
persecuted because of their religion
these problems are not new they have
been plaguing our country for centuries
and as long as these problems continue
to exist America cannot truly be great
I believe that changes need to be made I
believe that we can make America great
but I do not believe that we need to
make America great again because I don’t
know about you but I can’t think of a
time in American history when America
was great for everyone I think that
instead of focusing on the past and
trying to make America great again
we should start focusing on the future
and how we can make America great
[Applause]
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