Commissioner Amy Mitchell’s definition notwithstanding…
Published in The Flume – 01/19/2023
What is a real American?
Are real Americans exclusively white Christians born in this country? Or maybe it’s everybody who was born here. On the other hand, maybe it’s every citizen, regardless of where they originally came from. But was there a caveat for those people? Did they necessarily have to slough off their native culture and the religion they were born with so they could be considered real Americans? Did they have to embrace a Christian God, Guns, Guts, Mom, and Apple Pie to be considered real Americans?
Maybe real Americans are only those who’ve been provided the franchise, the right to vote. That didn’t happen for women until 1920 and 1924 for Native Americans. It took Constitutional Amendments to extend that right to women and all those born or naturalized here, including former slaves. (Despite those amendments, many states fought tooth and nail to deny that right to Native Americans and former slaves. Many states still manipulate the franchise, notably those with Republican governors and legislative majorities, to gain political advantage.)
The Park County Board of Commissioners’ new Chair, Amy Mitchell, defined what a real American was in February 2020. It was after she attended a rally for Donald J. Trump in Colorado Springs. She posted on Facebook that she thought the event was “awesome.” She declared it was “…fun to hang out with real Americans who love our country.”
Were Trump supporters the only real Americans? If so, where does that leave the rest of us? Do the rest of us love our country? I do. In fact, I suspect all my paternal ancestors did when they began arriving here in the 18th century. Even my maternal ancestors from Ireland, who didn’t get here until the 19th century, loved their adopted country.
But, to be a real American, was it required of me to vote for Trump in 2020? And, even now, do I necessarily have to pay homage to the Grand Poobah of Mar-a-Lago to be considered a real American? Or do real Americans now bow at the altar of DeSantis?
I wonder how Commissioner Mitchell would answer that question today. I don’t care who or what she supports or believes in—God, Trump, Wissel’s Code of the West, Ron DeSantis, or the Tooth Fairy. Take your pick. But am I less of an American if I don’t share her beliefs? A faux American who just simply hasn’t yet seen the light?
Amy Mitchell filed her papers to run for the District 1 Commissioner primary on or about the same day she attended the “awesome” Trump rally. A couple of weeks before she won that primary in June, she attended Michelle Malkin’s “Defend Our Monuments” rally in Colorado Springs. She’s seen in a FOX 21 video in the small group (reportedly 30 or 40) who attended that rally raising her arm and shaking her fist with the chant “Defend our monuments!” She wore a campaign button on her chest reading “Amy Mitchell. Commissioner District 1. Park County.” Someone took a picture of her and Malkin with Malkin’s thumb raised, and Mitchell posted it on her campaign website captioned: “Michelle Malkin endorsed my campaign.”
One has to ask the reasonable question: Was Mitchell’s motivation to head up to Colorado Springs that day to get an “endorsement” that would play well with, oh, let’s say, the folks who eventually comprised the South Park Outsiders and their fellow travelers?
If you don’t know who Michelle Malkin is, consider this. She addressed the American Renaissance Organization in the winter of 2021. The organization describes itself as “race-realists.” When Malkin addressed the group, she compared herself to the white nationalists in the room. She told them, “one way or another, they – we – have arrived at the same shared destination point.” She said in a 2020 interview, “I don’t apologize as somebody who has non-white skin for defending the idea that America should maintain its historic demographic balance.” Historic demographic balance? Yeah, predominantly white folks. And how do you suppose that will be maintained?
So, what is a real American? And what does it mean to love your country?
In 2019, probably at the height of the most recent hateful anti-immigration rhetoric in America, Grinnell College undertook a poll asking what a real American is. Treating people equally, taking responsibility for your actions, and accepting people of different racial and religious backgrounds ranked very high, from 78 to 90 percent. Yet, 25 percent of those responding said being Christian and being born in the United States were essential to being a real American.
I don’t have to point out what side of the political spectrum the 25 percent were in.
It’s axiomatic that being a Republican in Park County is the nearly exclusive and most traveled road to political office. But, unfortunately, kowtowing to the lunatic fringe of the local GOP appears to be in fashion these days. In fact, the lunatics may very well capture control of the local party in short order.
Conclusions? Well, I do know I’m a real American. If you don’t believe that, just ask me. I expect we all think we’re real Americans.
Mitchell’s definition notwithstanding.
Amy Mitchell hasn’t a clue about what a real American is. A real American doesn’t shove their views or their religious beliefs down other people’s throats. If she were a real American she would respect everyone’s right to religious freedom and their different way of seeing things. She represents everything that is wrong with this country.