Most of us had the privilege of rolling our eyes when our parents and maybe our grandparents told us that we should be grateful to live in our country. Speaking for myself, I did. I'm a second-generation American. My great-grandparents brought my grandparents over after the First World War. As a child and a young adult, I took for granted that they lived through the Great Recession and the Second World War.

As I grew older and more curious about the world, I appreciated what they went through. Being German in the USA during that time could not have been fun. I do regret not asking more about their story. I'm not sure they would have told me much.

I took all of this for granted. Why? Because I could. The two world wars are further and further away from us. There are only about 30,000 WW2 vets still with us. Why did I say I took it for granted? Because I could. I could exercise the rights given to us in the Constitution. I could move through my spaces, believing I was a product of exceptionalism. That's what we were told when we were taught about our history.

What we were taught was not the full truth. I have known that for a long time, and I think any rational human would as well. We no longer live in rational times. We live in an era that more resembles 1920's Germany. Now, as a citizen of this country, I no longer take it for granted.

I still have privilege; I am still white. I have less privilege than my white male counterparts. We still have more privilege than minorities (religious and racial). I no longer take it for granted. We were told that because we were citizens and the result of 250 years of something, we were exceptional. What we weren't taught is that to be so, we would have to maintain it and bring others along with us.

Instead, we are leaving people behind and sending them away. I don't take any of this for granted anymore. I am lucky to have won the lottery of being born here, and right now I'm tired.



&
Raine