No, You Can’t: The Dark Agenda to Divide America

Revealed Bigotry Comes Out of the Closet

In the shadows of our society, a dark and calculated plan has emerged, a deliberate strategy crafted to fracture the ideals upon which America was built. This plan does not simply sow seeds of division; it cultivates deep-rooted animosity, turning neighbor against neighbor, creating fear out of difference, and building a nation that denies dignity to those who don’t fit a narrow mold. Those who architect this division understand one profound truth: in a democracy, difference, diversity, and equality are supposed to be celebrated. But if they are to achieve their goals, they must distort this truth, and they must do so relentlessly.

Their strategy is rooted in deception. If the ideals of the American Dream are to be dismantled, the first step is making Americans despise each other. If you can make diversity look like a threat, turn empathy into weakness, and shape compassion into something to be avoided, then you’ve found a way to hold power without regard for the broader consequences.

So, the architects of this division went to work, identifying people who could be easily persuaded, manipulated into believing that certain groups posed a danger. With precision and ruthlessness, they created stories and spun lies, using every tool at their disposal to strip groups of people of their dignity, to make them appear unworthy of respect. They recast diversity not as a strength, but as a liability—a danger to tradition, a threat to values, a dilution of something pure. They painted people of different races, religions, sexual orientations, and identities as “other,” as “less than.”

And in these distorted stories, they had found their scapegoat. Diversity became the enemy, blamed for economic hardship, blamed for social tension, blamed for the erosion of a mythical “pure” America. In their world, diversity was something to fear and detest. And by making people believe this lie, they could create a society where bigotry thrived unchecked, all under the pretense of “protecting” America.

This manipulation wasn’t about truth; it was about control. With immense capital, media influence, and psychological insight, these architects of division built an illusion, a world where only some people had a legitimate claim to the American Dream. In doing so, they created a new paradigm, a world where the powerful elite imposed rigid definitions of who could belong. And they wielded this power to close doors, to deny rights, to erase the humanity of those who didn’t fit within their confines.

In this new reality, the message was unmistakable: No, you can’t. No, you can’t take control of your own reproductive rights. No, you can’t live freely and love openly, because your identity veers too far from the accepted “norm.” No, you can’t apply to this prestigious institution, because your skin color, your background, your heritage somehow makes you less deserving. No, you can’t find a home here, even if you’ve come legally, because you disrupt their fragile vision of “purity.”

And in this relentless chant of “No, you can’t,” they proclaimed their power. They positioned themselves as gatekeepers, deciding who could live freely, who could dream, who could dare to hope. It’s a system meticulously crafted to make people believe that if they don’t fit this narrow ideal, they simply don’t count. This exclusion isn’t incidental; it’s essential to their agenda. By demonizing diversity, they consolidate power. By marginalizing differences, they make it acceptable to strip rights from others, to deny basic human freedoms, all in the name of preserving a fictitious version of America.

Yet, in the face of their resounding “No, you can’t,” we remember the words that once gave millions hope—Yes, we can.Those words spoke of unity, resilience, and the belief that our strength lies in our diversity. But now, those words are met with a backlash, a determination to reverse progress, to silence voices, to strip away freedoms. This backlash may feel overwhelming, but it is not where our story ends.

Because every time they say “No,” we have the power to rise and respond with “Yes, we can.” This may be a setback, but it will not be the end. The journey to reclaim the American promise has grown longer, the struggle more complex, but we will get there. Yes, we will embrace our diversity. Yes, we will celebrate our differences. Yes, we will build a nation that values freedom, equality, and dignity for all who call it home. The American Dream belongs to every one of us, and no one—no matter how powerful, no matter how privileged—has the right to take that away.

And so, I awoke this morning and watched the returns as the nation cast its vote. I looked in the mirror and reflected on the ballot I submitted. I asked myself, Am I, by the choice I made, betraying the American ideal? Am I forsaking the principles ingrained in me through the teachings of Scouting, principles I passed down to my three sons—all Eagle Scouts—values like respect, fairness, integrity, honor, and courage? Did I, by my vote, teach them that it’s acceptable to lie, to cheat, to diminish others, to strip away rights and privileges? Did I suggest it’s fine to dictate what women—our daughters, our mothers, our sisters—can do with their own bodies?

Or did my vote, my voice, say instead, Yes, you can—that in this country, each of us has the power to choose, to speak, to live in freedom and dignity? Did I stand as a guardian of democratic ideals, or did I yield to the lure of division, restriction, and control?

One day, perhaps in a nursing home or surrounded by family, the story of our choices, our lives, will be told. And the question that will linger is this: Were you someone who said, “Oh, no, you can’t,” shutting down dreams and freedoms, standing in the way of others? Or did you live as someone who said, “Oh, yes, you can”—a protector of the promise of democracy, not a betrayer of its ideals?

In the end, it comes down to this: Did we contribute to the American Dream, or did we let it slip away? In these choices, we decide not only who we are today but who we will be remembered as. We decide the future for ourselves, for our children, and for every voice that seeks to be heard. Let history record us as those who said “Yes,” who protected and honored the ideals of freedom, diversity, and equality. For in doing so, we guard the very soul of America.

Effenus Henderson