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Dear John,

I'm spending the 4th with family, going to a friend's 51st birthday party
("don't let the old man in!" is the advice I've been given and will in
turn share about getting older) and taking some time to reflect on our
good fortune.

These are tough days, dark ones for our country. Never since the Civil War
have we had such an existential threat to our freedoms, our Constitution,
and the founding American idea that we are all created equal and should be
treated so under the law. The consolidation of authoritarian power in the
hands of our current President, the corruption committed in broad
daylight, the cruelty that is a feature of this regime... it can tempt us
to despair.

But let's remember that we've been through darker, tougher times before.
250 years ago we took on the most powerful empire on the planet to ensure
that no American would ever bow to a king again. A few generations later
we decided that no American could ever claim ownership over another by
defeating the armies of the Confederacy at the cost of more than 360,000
Union soldiers killed. We took on the Nazis in World War II, Americans
giving their lives to stop fascism abroad and protect democracy at home.
And not even a generation after that, brave civil and voting rights
activists overcame the overwhelming power of Jim Crow (harassment,
imprisonment and murder) and forced this country to reckon with the idea
of equality in practice, producing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.

We've been up against some tough, long odds since 1776. And though it has
never been easy, and though it has come at great cost to those Americans
willing to put their lives on the line for this country and the ideals it
represents, we have always come through.

Remember that and remember that there are a lot of good people out there
right now. Candidates putting their names on the ballot, activists putting
their lives on the line (Minneapolis and beyond), advocates and volunteers
giving their time and talent, good people of good conscience doing what
they can with what they have wherever they are.

We are going to come through these challenges like we've come through them
before... working together, across and despite our differences, having the
courage the moment demands, willing to sacrifice and doing the work that
is going to make the difference.

We'll emerge from this trial closer to realizing our promise and
potential, inspiring the generations to come just as those before have
inspired us.

Happy Independence Day,

Beto


 


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