The strong white wing of conservatives, most concentrated unrelentingly in the South, from Texas up to Missouri in the west to Virginia down to northern Florida in the east, do not think like us. These whites never have. They are not of the same mentality. America is not unified. When you say Americans, do you mean Americans like yourself or Americans like them? For them, America is best unified when they are on top over the rest and the rest “know their place.” That is the authoritarianism you rightly speak of. Their god is not your god, their country as they see it is not your country as you see it.
You are correct in pointing it out, and I applaud your efforts to raise the conscious of this profound problem and thank you for continuing to use your voice to raise awareness and search for insight. In fact, I couldn’t agree more with that accurate concern that we constantly have overspent on weapons instead of schools for free pre-K and the assistance to the poor to at least buy them bootstraps to pull themselves up by.—teaching them to fish instead of just giving them fish. But the last thing this wing of America wants is to see the diverse poor empowered. They just don’t think like you and your readers. Here’s what some have said in the past, reflecting that very authoritarian sentiment you pertinently point out:
“I will never apologize for America. Never. I don’t care what the facts are.” President George H.W. Bush, 1989
“If we would just listen to the Word of God and not try to overthrow God’s established order, we would not have any trouble. God never meant for America to be a melting pot to rub out the line between the nations. That was not God’s purpose for this nation.” Bob Jones - The Leading and most powerful Evangelist of his day, Founder in 1927 of segregated Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.
“[A]ll the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, into our schools, our churches” around 1956 Strom Thurmond, US Senator, a leading member of the MAGA conservative delegation in the Senate from 6 decades.
