STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Love Donald Trump or hate him. Love Bernie Sanders or hate him. Both gentlemen have ignited a passion in the 2016 debate for Leader of the Free World we have not seen in a very long time.

It brings us back to Hippies-versus-Hardhats circa 1968.

A recent manifestation of 2016's passion erupted at a Staten Island Home Depot last week when a young black woman donned a cap that read, "AMERICA WAS NEVER GREAT," a response, of course, to Trump's campaign theme as he upends the American political establishment. We mention her race because her race plays a part in this story.

Krystal Lake, just 22, from St. George and a College of Staten Island student, perhaps chose an unfortunate place to make her statement -- her workplace. It's probably not the place to be making political statements.

But let's get beyond that. It's her statement that is igniting a firestorm on social media and getting her death threats daily.

To assume Krystal Lake hates America is just plain wrong. She is attending college and working a job to support herself and pay tuition. The real question is, was America ever great for Krystal Lake? Or her mother? Or her mother's mother?

Was it ever great for black Americans since the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence declared "that all men are created equal...with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Krystal Lake is black, as were her mother, and her mother's mother.

If you're white and middle-class, if you've never faced discrimination, if you've never been called a disparaging name referring to race, if you've never shown up to rent an apartment to suddenly find that apartment no longer available because of the color of your skin, then America has been great for you.

But we doubt this young woman from St. George can say those things never happened to her. Or her mom or grandmom.

Proof? Just read the rants on social media. The woman's life has been threatened because she expressed an opinion. And she is supposed to think America has been great?

Ironically, anyone sporting a Trump that that reads "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," is pretty much saying the same thing as Krystal Lake. Logic tells you if we need to make it great again, America is not great -- for you -- now.

Well, Krystal Lake feels America was never great for her or people like her, and she has every right to say it.

We need Americans like Krystal Lake. Americans not afraid to stand up to a mob and peacefully say what they believe. Because we believe Krystal Lake wants a great America, an America where we respect each other for what we do. Not for how we look.

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