"It has become commonplace to say that the Democrats presented an uplifting view of the United States to contrast with the darkness of the last week’s Republican National Convention. It is tempting, even, to invoke Ronald Reagan's 'Morning in America,' especially since Clinton used the phrase in her speech. But pay attention to the tenor of this optimism, to the rhythms of its expression. It isn't the self-satisfaction of Reagan, champion of the status quo. It is hard-won hope, an optimism born of struggle. It's the 'Mothers of the Movement,' whose grief fuels hopeful activism. 'We're going to keep telling our children's stories and urging you to say their names,' said Lucia McBath, mother of Jordan Davis, who was slain in 2012. 'We're going to keep building a future where police officers and communities of color work together in mutual respect to keep children, like Jordan, safe.' It's the difference between Reagan’s eternal lights 'in this springtime of hope' and Maya Angelou's 'still I rise,' one of the refrains of this week.
"This progressive patriotism wasn't just a cudgel to use on Donald Trump, whose solipsism and fearmongering have exposed him to a Democratic attack on the basis of values and temperament. It was part of the bedrock of the argument against Trump and Trumpism—that he and his cause were fundamentally un-American, that electing him would deal an irreparable blow to the bonds of multicultural democracy."
Jamelle Bouie in Slate reacts to the Democratic National Convention.
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