The implication, often made explicit, is that “real Americans” are White, Christian, and mostly male. Everyone else is an interloper. These Americans hold the power, and anyone who threatens to take that power and distribute it more broadly is a threat—and a traitor. This is the core of what MAGA is about: Make America Great Again by taking us back to the time before the Civil Rights movement. In their view, patriotism is obedience to the state. But there is another version of this story. The one I believe.