Because I’m furious with the government that calls itself freedom.
Because families seeking asylum are finding a worse hell at the border.
Because poverty is an induced cycle that the government oppresses minorities in to.
Because education is a right that is treated as a privilege.
Because gun drills are normal.
Because guns are normal.
Because guns.
I stopped identifying as American when the first thing people asked was, “are you glad you left?”
Because yes.
Yes, I am glad I don’t have to watch my mother wait at home for her job to resume.
Yes, I am running from the opioid crisis.
Yes, I am afraid to go to the movies.
I stopped identifying as American when the first thing people said was, “sorry”.
Yeah, I am too.
Thank God I’m not American.
— some context: I am American, I was born American, my parents are American, my passport is American. But I was born in Germany and I have always felt like that was my home. Because of this I have slowly stopped associating myself with my family’s nationality. I no longer ask what my country can do for me nor what I can do for it because I no longer call it my country.
Jacqueline Oeschger
