Donald Trump, John Lewis, and the importance of our national story

Donald Trump's criticism of John Lewis is discouraging, not just because it came as the nation prepares to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., or because of Trump’s eyebrow-raising assumptions about Lewis’s congressional district, but because the criticism is another example of Trump’s failure to show any interest in, much less deference to, a story of America that extends beyond himself. 

In his op-ed today, Michael Gerson puts it well:

[A] president-elect attacking a hero of the civil rights movement less than a week before he takes the oath of office is not normal. There is some strange inversion of values at work. Because Vladimir Putin praises him, Trump defends Putin. Because Lewis criticizes him, Trump attacks Lewis (as “talk, talk, talk — no action or results”). The only organizing principle is the degree of deference to Trump himself. It is the essence of narcissism.

Some commentators complained that President Obama’s farewell address sounded like a speech he could have given in 2008. Well, yes, that’s the point.  He invoked George Washington, Atticus Finch, Iwo Jima, Selma, Stonewall – hardly ground-breaking references.  There are themes and moments that need to be sounded again and again, not just across the span of an eight-year administration, but across the breadth of the American experience.  Whether or not we agree with how a particular President has interpreted or contributed to the national story, the construction and stewardship of shared meaning within a community is essential.  That shared meaning must transcend the individual without lapsing into an abstract universalism that lacks resonance with particular lives and histories.   The stories of a nation that are handed down across generations matter, and the heroes of those stories matter.  Virtually all of our Presidents have recognized that a central aspiration of their leadership must be to integrate their administration’s priorities into the broader narrative, building on the legacies of those who came before us, no matter the party.  Martin Luther King Jr. did the same when he appealed to the better angels of his fellow Americans; in his "I Have a Dream" speech, he cited the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Emancipation Proclamation.  King did not believe that he was creating something from nothing -- he was claiming a place for his people in our national story.

The importance of our shared story does not mean that criticism of our nation’s heroes is off-limits, but it does mean that the criticism should be focused and substantive, not dismissive or demeaning. We can and should discuss Thomas Jefferson's relationship with his slave Sally Hemings when we account for his part in our national story, for example, but his part remains important and should be honored.  The current clamor to rename university buildings and municipal monuments can be problematic in this regard, suggesting that the individual’s sins override the importance of the broader story.  In many of those cases, though, the renaming effort springs from a desire for more Americans to participate fully in our shared story – the story remains central, though its driving themes of tolerance and inclusion can, if not handled carefully, erase other messy but important elements.  The battles over “political correctness” are still battles premised on the relevance of story, shared meaning, and heroes.

In my view, John Lewis spoke imprudently when he said that Trump is not a legitimate President. By responding to Lewis as he did, Trump showed more than a lack of prudence – he showed categorical disdain for one of the last remaining public figures who was instrumental in a key chapter of our national story.  Among the many concerns I have about our new President is that he has no interest in stewarding our shared story, pushing instead the cult of personality and the overriding power of now.  I hope and pray that I am proved wrong.