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I’m a first generation American, and my immigrant parents raised me with the belief that this is the greatest country in the world; a belief I still firmly hold to this day. Does this mean that I think the United States is perfect? Hell no.

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I’ll always be who I was on November 8, 2016: an optimist who voted for the first woman to be a major party’s presidential nominee.

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I did something really big recently. Something I should have done a long time ago.

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I promise I’ll build you an underground railroad for people like you.

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Barely free, and absolutely not brave.

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“You don’t have to do that,” President Obama said as he saw Hackney standing.

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God made the world, and people made countries.

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Our Declaration, our Constitution, and our flag are symbols that stand for our entire nation…They do not exist to represent a small portion of us.

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As every other year, this Independence Day saw the usual, fleeting public outpour of gratitude for living in this country.

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4. Intense patriotism—flags everywhere.