Trump’s insincere call for unity fuels divisiveness

President Trump’s recent call for national unity in front of the American Legion would seem to be “too little, too late.”

He has spent the better part of a year or more calling Mexicans “rapists” and trying to ban all Muslims entering the country. He has made disparaging remarks about women and told African Americans that they have “nothing to lose” by supporting him (although most realized that they had EVERYTHING to lose). He is trying to ban transgendered soldiers from the military. And only just the day before his call for unity, he conveniently left out the fact that he had blamed “both sides” for the violence and death in Charlottesville.

While I agree with the words that Trump uttered, I also find it hard to believe that they are truly his words. He was given a speech and told to stick to the text. Until he firmly and unequivocally denounces people who commit violence in his name, he will be continuing to fuel the very divisiveness that he claims to want to heal.

Clearly, we cannot, as a country, look to our president to help bring us together. Those of us who believe in this country and who believe that we are all one people (regardless of our politics, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) need to be the ones who step up to the plate and work together to bring about unity. We need to start by listening to each other and letting go of assumptions about each other. We need to find common ground and we need to hold our representatives accountable for their actions, insisting that they work for everyone, not just their wealthy donors.

Only then can we truly be the great country we strive to be.

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Trump’s insincere call for unity fuels divisiveness."