2020 – The year from hell. Australia burned down, global pandemic COVID-19, killer hornets, race riots, destruction, looting. The last 5½ months have not been easy.

But what I want to talk about is the direction the United States is going. Recent riots have gotten me alarmed. I AM NOT talking about the peaceful protests – that is one thing. But when people hurt others, destroy property, burn police cars – that is another matter. No one has a right to vandalize, loot, and destroy property and hurt others. 

It is as if someone were stirring up trouble manipulating the population of the United States to destroy itself.

Censorship is another concern. I never believed in censorship. I feel one should read anything and everything. Now under attack is movies such as Gone with the Wind, statues of Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, and other parts of America’s history.

I disagree about removing these “offensive” things. We need to learn from our past – not destroy it. We need to talk about politics and history – not hide it. And to all these people destroying statues and monuments – It is NOT going to change history. 

What is happening now is almost everyone is offended by something. This is where the United States is heading – we all will be wearing the same grey uniforms with short hair. We all will become drones that are slaves to a radical authoritarian government that will permit no individuality, freedom, or any rights that our forefathers fought for. We will eat synthesized food and have no pleasure in life whatsoever, but a boring existence. There will be no books, no movies, no church – nothing! Right out of George Orwell’s 1984. This is because all these things offend someone. We are destroying the very diversity we are trying to protect.

God likes variety. If God did not like variety, we would all look and sound alike. But we are all different. Everyone likes different things and in America, our individuality is what makes this country special. Whatever happened to being proud of being American? Now, it is as if it’s a sin to like the country you live in. 

I say no to censorship, no to riots, no to destroying our past. Yes, the United States had slavery. Yes, we were cruel to the Native Americans. No nation is without sin. But we must move past that. I do not want a government telling me what television and movies to watch, what books and magazines to read. Whatever happened to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave? We have become the land of the offended and the home of the hate. THIS MADNESS MUST STOP! 

Katherine M.