The President’s Mount Rushmore speech emphasized the greatness of our nation as an economic powerhouse and military power. He described the country as the greatest ever and I agree with his description. However, he made no mention of the many in our country who do not enjoy the full freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness due to factors such as climate change, unemployment, natural disaster and/or war. We should celebrate the fortunate but also acknowledge more needs to be done to include all in this great experiment in democracy. We must not forget our past. We cannot ignore that this country and its natural resources were forcibly taken from the original inhabitants and that many were murdered and mistreated in the process. Neither can we ignore the fact that slave-owning entrepreneurs developed much of this nation. The indigenous inhabitants and the enslaved peoples are a continuing stain on our history which should not be ignored as the President suggested in his speech. It is our history and we must remember and ensure that the prejudices which justified these actions shall not be repeated.
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