Independence Day To Me

On this day of our American Independence, I'd like to stray from my typical domain of health innovation to share an important aspect of why I celebrate today. That is equal opportunity. Our nation was founded in opposition to the monarchy that provided opportunity solely based on proximity to wealth and who is in your family tree, not gifts, ideas, and talents. Equal opportunity has always been the American dream. Protecting this axiom is one of the main purposes of our democratic system of electing our leaders to represent us in maintaining our Independence from inequality.

No president or representative can serve as our leader without the consent of our people. Consent for me starts with trust that equal opportunity will be a cornerstone in the elected representative's approach to the job. To be clear, this is a very difficult job to do, it's a paradox really, because our nation is unique and beautiful because of her diverse and wide spectrum of communities, and to gain consensus in these positions often requires tradeoffs. That is to be expected.? However, sometimes there are moments in political discourse that directly goes against this founding ideology of equal opportunity.

"They're taking Black jobs now, and it could be 18, it could be 19 and even 20 million people. They're taking Black jobs, and they're taking Hispanic jobs"

This quote from last week's presidential debate is an assault on the founding ideology of our nation. My personal position on immigration law and border policy is irrelevant to my point here. In the context of?a candidate demonstrating their position on this topic, the purpose is to gain consent from the people who agree and want to base their vote on alignment with their position on this topic (the topic of immigration). There is a way to articulate that clearly, and this candidate has done that previously.? In this case, the candidate distorted his presentation by using it as a way to describe an explicit bias they have formed against equality. For a candidate?vying for leading our nation of equal opportunity, this cannot go unnoticed.? There is no other way to interpret this comment other than to assume that the candidate believes that job opportunities intended for illegal immigrants, Black Americans, and Hispanic Americans are now and should remain low-paid, low-security, and often physically demanding service roles.

When a presidential candidate puts 43% of the American population (projected to be a majority 52% by 2045) into one general category to segment them into jobs that are obtainable without a legal means to get that job, that candidate must be held accountable o explain themselves. What is the immigration platform they are running on, and what was the intent of making an analogy to the types of jobs Black and Hispanic Americans might lose? Further clarification and an apology should be required. We will likely not get that in this case, but I truly wish we could and hope I'm wrong.? If there is any justification for describing illegal jobs as "black jobs" I would be the first to tune in to hear that explanation. Sadly, it doesn't exist. This is a threat to the equal opportunity that marginalized communities have been fighting for relentlessly, and it makes me sad and angry that it is being threatened so directly.?

I love the history of our great country and what it means to have escaped marginalization and lost opportunities based on socioeconomic status. We have a country because we escaped that. I do not consent to any ideologies that nudges us back to the tyranny we escaped 250 years ago. In the case of these comments, it is more than a nudge, it is a significant threat. Exercise your right to hold people accountable when it threatens the principles that founded our independence for the sake of equal opportunity.

Thank you for letting me share something different.

Happy Independence Day!