CHICAGO, IL – Today, Governor JB Pritzker published a Substack article honoring America’s 250th anniversary by reflecting on our nation’s legacy and continued fight for justice.
Gov. Pritzker said that Donald Trump has not extinguished America’s spirit: “But let’s be honest, there have been times in the past decade when we seem to have been living out our founders’ worst nightmare. A man sits in the White House now who is everything they feared most: an uncontrollable, narcissistic, authoritarian who acts like a king. He has done everything he can to turn America’s 250th into a profit-making and partisan tribute to himself. For all the damage he has caused to this nation, Donald Trump has been unable to extinguish the spirit of our founding declaration.”
Gov. Pritzker highlighted Illinois’ advances toward freedom and justice: “We are still in that struggle. That’s why I will never give up in the fight for social and economic justice. In Illinois, we defied the odds when we delivered a $15 minimum wage and universal paid leave while reinforcing Illinois as a beacon for freedoms like civil rights and voting rights. The truest legacy the founders bequeathed us is the ability to imagine and actualize a nation that is more free and just than any other on Earth.”
Read the full piece below:
JB Pritzker | Substack: America at 250: We Are Overcoming Impossible Odds
Our nation was founded 250 years ago with a bold assertion: that we are all created equal, and that we have certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That declaration cemented America’s identity and its aspirations, even if it didn’t yet reflect America’s reality. Generation after generation has struggled to make those words come to life for our republic, and real progress has been made.
Our history, of course, has not been an uninterrupted march toward liberty. Anyone who fought for the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, labor laws, civil rights, voting rights, or LGBTQ+ rights was met with resistance and setbacks – colossal ones. Yet we have steadily bent our future toward justice.
But let’s be honest, there have been times in the past decade when we seem to have been living out our founders’ worst nightmare. A man sits in the White House now who is everything they feared most: an uncontrollable, narcissistic, authoritarian who acts like a king. He has done everything he can to turn America’s 250th into a profit-making and partisan tribute to himself.
For all the damage he has caused to this nation, Donald Trump has been unable to extinguish the spirit of our founding declaration.
I saw it clearly in Chicago last year, when he sent masked federal agents in unmarked cars to terrorize residents of our city. The people of Chicago showed up with whistles, cameras, and unflinching nerve to protect each other.
When he slashed food assistance for people in need, neighbors came together to hold food drives and make sure families in their community didn’t go hungry.
And even as Trump has done everything in his power to convey that America is an unwelcoming place, many Americans have done the opposite. Look at our embrace of our World Cup visitors. Over the last few weeks, we have done everything possible to say to visitors from across the globe, “Welcome! Come eat our ranch dressing, drink our bars out of beer, marvel at our sunsets, and feel the warmth of a nation made better by diversity. This is who we are.”
Contrary to Trump’s character, Americans are strong and good and decent and kind. It’s time to demand our leaders reflect who we truly are. Bullying and cruelty are weak. Empathy and compassion are demonstrations of strength. Racism and bigotry don’t make you tough, they just make you a racist. The constant barrage of insults coming from the president’s social media account isn’t some clever new brand of politics. It’s just childish and mean.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. It was a perfect day surrounded by people from both political parties who have dedicated themselves to perfecting our country. Marc Anthony sang “Vivir Mi Vida,” and we all danced in our seats, and for a moment, I remembered what it was like to feel a little bit of uninterrupted joy in politics.
But it was President Obama’s speech that will sit with me much longer. Toward the end of it, he talked about Reverend Theodore Parker, an abolitionist who first uttered the famous words about the arc of the moral universe being long but bending toward justice. President Obama noted that Parker did not live to see the true realization of his life’s work and said that Parker’s words were “…a declaration of faith, a defiant call not to abandon hope or give way to fear… even in the face of cruelty and bitter disappointment, even in the face of impossible odds.”
When it comes to the potential of our nation, I’ll take impossible odds any day. Because we have overcome so many obstacles that our ancestors would not have believed possible.
We are still in that struggle. That’s why I will never give up in the fight for social and economic justice. In Illinois, we defied the odds when we delivered a $15 minimum wage and universal paid leave while reinforcing Illinois as a beacon for freedoms like civil rights and voting rights. The truest legacy the founders bequeathed us is the ability to imagine and actualize a nation that is more free and just than any other on Earth.
I love this country too much not to stand in the breach. So, on this quarter millennial milestone of our democracy, let’s remember our American heritage and fight for it.
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CONTACT: press@jbpritzkercampaign.com