VA250’s Carly Fiorina: “True Love of Country Means Knowing the Whole Story”

HAMPTON ROADS, VA

Speaking at the Urban League of Hampton Roads’ 42nd Annual MLK Jr. Community Celebration, VA250 National Honorary Chair Carly Fiorina called for Americans to reject historical propaganda and embrace the “whole story” of our nation’s founding as the 250th anniversary nears. Fiorina argued that America’s identity is not shaped by its leaders, but by the shared beliefs of its people.

  “It’s easy to understand why American history has been politicized for a while now,” Fiorina said. “Instead of telling the whole story, people on all sides have cherry-picked our history, using selected stories of heroes or villains to advance an ideology or feed a resentment or push a political agenda. Nostalgia is not history. Mythology is not history. Promotion and advocacy are not history. Propaganda is not history.”

  Citing “widespread … apathy, and cynicism” regarding American history, Fiorina emphasized that VA250 is committed to countering these trends by educating Virginians and the public on the nation’s past.

  “When we edit our American story…we are doing damage to our country and to our fellow citizens,” Fiorina warned. “True patriotism, true love of country means knowing the whole story. For every story of failing and shortcoming and there are many, there is also a story of resilience and strength. For every story of sin, there is a story of redemption.”

  Fiorina reminded the audience that the power to define America rests not with any president, but with the people. “America is bigger than any man, even a president…No president, no matter his ambition, his actions, or his words, no president makes America. No president defines America. We do.”

  Amidst an ongoing national debate over what it means to identify as an American, Fiorina asserted it doesn’t matter if an individual can trace their ancestry back to the first Americans or if they recently obtained citizenship. Rather, it comes down to their core beliefs:

  “If you believe in the promise of America, if you believe in equality before God, if you believe in self-evident truths and inalienable rights, if you believe in the freedom of each of us to dream our dreams and live our lives, to make our dreams come true, if you believe that we as sovereign citizens have a duty to form a more perfect union. If you believe these things, then you are an American.”