When a person says again, it typically means they're referring to a point in the past. In this case, Trump must be referring to some point in America's past that he considers as a great time.
So, let's take a look at America's greatest years and see what he might mean.
- 1607
The year Jamestown was founded and America truly first began. Most likely Trump doesn't mean this year because I highly doubt he event knows the exact year when Jamestown was founded. Even so, let's presume it is, Jamestown was when Americans were starting to come over, all white, early slavery, strong religious ties in the community, and we were killing Native Americans for land.
So 1607 would be bad for anyone that isn't Anglican or Puritans. It would be bad for any blacks, because slavery, and it would be bad for women because their rights were fairly limited to working in the home and raising children. Obviously it would be bad for Native Americans, because we were killing them and taking their land.
Anyway, let's at least move towards more modern history where America was in a good point.
- Anytime in the 19th Century
At this time America was expanding and growing greatly. Jefferson had the Louisiana Purchase and America was expanding west and south. But still, slavery was rampant for more than half the century, the back half when the slaves were freed there was still harsh racism against blacks and the country was in ruins from a Civil War. Oh, and Native Americans were still getting killed for their land throughout the century as well. Women in general still had the same role in America, even as a few broke out.
Still, it wasn't exactly a bright time in American history, so let's move to the 1900s,
- 1920s (Roaring 20s)
The economy is booming, people are living the life, culture was exploding, women were breaking out for the first time and doing controversial things with style and women's rights. African-Americans were developing a strong culture musically through jazz and blues and were creating roots for the future.
Still it wasn't perfect. Sexism and racism was still a thing, just only now it was being expanded to more races other than blacks such as the Latino and Asian workers that were coming in the west. And of course at the back end, in 1920, prohibition happened and if Trump is referring to this time period I think we can all agree that there will be riots.
- 1950s
Baby boomers were popping out like crazy after World War II, the economy was in a great place and Europe owed us so much money that they were going to be paying it back until the 90s. We had TV now and radio, the country was greatly connected and Elvis and Sinatra were a thing. Still, now more than ever America was under strict guidelines, the perfect family, the father worked, the mother stayed at home, and the children went to school and played sports and then at the end of the day they all gathered at home. And of course, they were white. Racism was at an all time high, even though countless people of color gave their lives fighting for America in World War II.
The 1950s were the years for white middle class and upper middle class people. So if you weren't white, you pretty much had no place in modern American society as seen by the media of this time.
- 1980s - 1990s
Segregation ended in the 60s, and even though racism still existed, at least now it wasn't an official law. African-Americans were getting their chance at a good life and some were moving into the middle class and some were even reaching the 1%. A new form of art came out called Hip-Hop in the black community and has since been dominating the world. Still, America was imposing harsh drug laws for the war on drugs and were locking up minorities in large numbers. We were also beginning our operations in the Middle East which would inevitably lead to the creation of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS and much devastation across the world and America itself.
Conclusion
The reality is, socially America is better than it ever was. Women, LGBT, and minorities in general have a better chance in life than they ever had.
Trump is bringing racism, sexism, and xenophobia into this country and trying to undermine everything we have already created. Sure, some can argue that when he says "again" he might mean making America great again economically, but he still hasn't laid out a solid economical plan, and even if he tries to I doubt I could trust a businessman who's sensitive about the size of his reproductive organs and has a string of failed business ventures.
Wake up America. Trump doesn't want to make America great again. He wants to Make America White Again. He wants to Make America Racist Again.
We need a progressive America that continues moving forward, which is why I voted for Bernie and I urge the rest of America to do so too.
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