Dear… dear… dear… America,
There was a time when people believed that tomatoes were poisonous.
It sounds ridiculous now, doesn’t it? But for centuries, Europeans refused to eat them. Some swore they caused illness. Others believed they were cursed. The truth? Their plates contained lead, and the acid in tomatoes pulled it out, causing lead poisoning.
For generations, people swore off something harmless because of misunderstood information, because of a false connection that no one thought to question.
History is full of stories like that.
I remember a conversation with an older man who reminded me of how widely accepted narratives are often shaped by misunderstandings, misinformation, or convenient simplifications.
I don't know how, but we got to talking about Christopher Columbus and how people still talk about him like he discovered America.
Again, I don’t remember how we got on the topic, but I’ll never forget what he said:
"You know he didn’t actually discover anything, right?"
At first, I thought maybe he was joking. Or maybe he just liked to challenge people.
But he wasn’t.
"People were already here," he continued. "Whole civilizations, long before Columbus. The land wasn’t lost. It wasn’t empty. It was already known, already lived on, already full of histories that didn’t begin with him."
He wasn’t saying anything I didn’t already know—but the way he said it stuck with me.
Because for a long time, some have mistaken one tree for the entire landscape.
And for some, that’s enough. That one tree. It gives them comfort. It makes the world feel simple. It makes history feel certain.
But most notably, it helps them make sense of who they are—where they come from, where they belong, what it all means.
Because when history is clean and simple, so is identity.
And when identity feels certain, people will fight to protect it—even if that means ignoring the rest of the story.
Which brings me to this, America:
Who benefits when you only see one tree?
Who loses when you finally see the whole forest?
They Told You This Was About Division
They told you DEAI is dangerous. You’ve heard the soundbites:
"It’s woke nonsense. It’s radical. It’s rewriting history."
But let’s be honest—what’s really being rewritten?
Because the past didn’t change—we just stopped ignoring the parts that were always there.
You’ve been led to believe DEAI is divisive—that it’s about tearing things apart.
But is that really what’s happening?
Because DEAI isn’t about erasing anything. It’s asking us to expand. To include. To see.
And some people don’t like that.
I used to wonder why.
But the more I scratch the surface, the more I realize—this isn’t really about DEAI.
It’s about control. About who gets to define the past, and who gets to decide what truths we pass down.
Because if we see the whole forest—if we recognize what was left out—then we have a choice.
And choice is power. Choice is FREEDOM.
Once you see the whole forest, you can’t unsee it.
As Aunt Esther from Sanford and Son used to say…
"The truth shall set you free."
Sincerely,
Someone Who’s Still Trying to Understand You
p.s. I'll be back tomorrow.
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