by Alyssa Ahlgren
A bigoted America fueled by its hate for those who are not white, heterosexual males. A country so irredeemably racist that discrimination is woven into every institution. A nation inundated with sexism and patriarchal oppression so prominent that glass ceilings cover every aspect of American life. These characterizations of the land of opportunity have become a dogmatic mantra for progressives, and every single one is a lie.
The United Nations’ Human Rights Council, which includes some of the world’s most egregious human rights offenders, came together for the first human rights review of the United States in five years earlier this month. China, a country that has put over one million Muslims in detention camps, joined countries like Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Russia in condemning the United States with claims of systemic racism and racial inequality. The narrative of an intolerant America is not only a stronghold in the mainstream left domestically, it’s a narrative parroted by nations that routinely demonstrate their disregard for human life.
If you repeat an idea ad nauseam through the loudest megaphones — Hollywood, the mainstream media, and education — no matter the lack of evidence, people will start to believe it. Professors in higher education, “objective” journalists on major cable networks, and celebrities you grew up hailing as heroes — the people whom society has propped up as thought leaders and guides of information hold an authority over collective mainstream thought. An authority that was neither earned nor warranted, and an authority with an agenda.
The narrative that America is an evil, sexist, racist, bigoted place is not without its reasons. There’s power in the oppression narrative when the alleged oppressor is desperate to “prove” their innocence. White privilege is not a prevailing issue in our free society, but white guilt is. The most powerful corporations and institutions are no match against the woke rage mob. Any allegation of racism, sexism, or bigotry — regardless of evidence — is prone to “cancelation.” Employees are fired, companies boycotted, individuals doxed, and lives ruined.
When you have a culture that continually bows down to any and all accusations of persecution, that culture is not morally corrupt. When you have a society that participates in cancel culture at the slightest appearance of discrimination, that society is not friendly to oppression. When you have a country that has done more to rectify its past sins than any other nation on earth, that country is not intolerant. But don’t take my word for it, take reality’s.
The United States of America is the largest multicultural nation in the world. With a population of 330 million people and countless ethnicities (40% of which are non-white), no other country on the planet comes close to the size and diversity of the U.S. At over one million, the United States leads the world in immigrants taken in each year, most of which come from China, India, and Mexico. And since 2005, over 200 million people around the world have applied to America’s green card lottery program.
With hundreds of millions of people from every corner of the globe eager to enter our nation, does the narrative of a uniquely intolerant America make sense? Allow me to answer — hundreds of millions, most of whom are non-white, are not anxious and, in some cases, dying to get into a racist, sexist, bigoted country.
A study conducted by Swedish economists to assess racial tolerance around the world found the United States along with the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and some countries in Latin America are among the most likely to embrace racial diversity. The USA is also among the top in its attitude towards the LGBTQ community. According to studies from Gallup, two in three Americans support same-sex marriage and more than seven in ten Americans believe homosexuality should be accepted by society. In fact, a poll conducted by Reuters found that Americans care more about age than sexual orientation when it comes to presidential candidates.
But what separates the United States from its culturally tolerant counterparts is that none of them hold a candle to the vast diversity of the American populace. The U.S. has the largest LGBT population in the world as well as the largest multi-ethnic and multicultural population. With a population that only continues to grow more accepting, America is without a doubt the most tolerant, most diverse country on earth.
The progressive narrative of an intolerant America that has latched itself onto the cultural mindset at home and abroad is not rooted in reality.
However, we live in a society so sensitive to perceived intolerance that we’ve become close-minded to anything and anyone that doesn’t fit the tiny box that is leftist ideology. We’re so progressive that it’s regressive. Modern feminism and the “Me Too” movement have diluted due process. Racial disparities have led to discriminatory policy in the form of affirmative action initiatives and diversity quotas. “LGBT rights” continually eradicate and replace religious liberty and freedom of association.
We don’t live in a country intolerant of race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. But we do live in a country where the overarching narrative is controlled by leftist ideologues who lead society’s major institutions, and because of that, we live in a country intolerant of diversity of opinion. A distaste for opposing viewpoints to the progressive agenda is not uniquely American, either. It’s actually much worse in the rest of the Western world.
When it comes to tolerance towards women and minorities, there is no place like home.
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Alyssa has her Bachelor’s in Business Administration and currently works as an analyst in corporate finance. She grew up in northern Wisconsin and is a former collegiate hockey player. Alyssa is pursuing her passion for current events and politics through writing and being an advocate for the conservative movement.
