When Was America Ever “Great”?

“Make America Great Again!”

I’m tired of hearing it. Not just because it’s overused, but because every time someone says it, I want to ask: “When, exactly, was America great? And for whom?”

It’s a nostalgic slogan, sure. But nostalgia has a habit of airbrushing the past until only the myths remain.

Let’s break it down.

Was America “great” economically?

Maybe during the post-WWII boom. But that was also a time when women were shoved out of the workforce and back into the kitchen. Black Americans were still living under Jim Crow. Unions were strong, but mostly white. The middle class was expanding, but only if you fit the mold.

Militarily?

America’s always had a big stick. But we’ve also used it to prop up dictators, overthrow elected governments, and keep the Global South under our thumb. That’s not greatness — that’s empire.

Culturally?

Sure, American art, music, and innovation have been influential. But much of that greatness came in spite of the system and not because of it. Black musicians, queer writers, immigrant inventors — they created brilliance while fighting for the right to exist.

So who was America great for?

White, straight, cisgender men with money. Everyone else had to fight for scraps or fight to survive.

That’s what “Make America Great Again” means to a lot of people: Make it comfortable again for the people who used to have a monopoly on power. It’s not about greatness. It’s about control.

We don’t need to make America “great again.” We need to make something entirely new. Something built on truth, equity, and justice — not nostalgia for a past that never existed for most of us.