Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears Says America Is Still Exceptional

Winsome Sears stunned the nation with her historic 2021 victory to become Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor and first black woman to hold statewide office.

The Republican is also the first Jamaican immigrant and female military veteran to hold the position, though those achievements have not been as widely celebrated as one might expect.

The reason, she says, is because her example flies in the face of Democrat narratives.

“It is said that Republicans hate immigrants. Well, here I am—I was born in Jamaica,” she told EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” in an episode that aired on Dec. 21.

“It is said that Republicans hate black people. Well, here I am again.

“It is said that Republicans are not too loving of women in general. Well, here I am—I am destroying all those narratives,” she said.

Another narrative Ms. Sears seeks to dispel is the notion that the American dream is unattainable.

Delving into the life experiences detailed in her recent memoir, “How Sweet It Is: Defending the American Dream,” she explained how, even with its flaws, the United States is still exceptional.

‘The Best We’ve Got’

As a conservative black woman, one insult Ms. Sears has repeatedly faced is the accusation that she’s “not black enough.”

“Unfortunately, it is a divisive type of argument,” she said. “It has happened, especially during my first run for election for office, just because I’m a Republican, and I’m black, and I guess I’m supposed to be a Democrat if I’m black.

“[But] this is America. Nobody tells us what we’re supposed to be and how we’re supposed to be. We make those decisions for ourselves.”

She contended that Democrats like to position themselves as the “political savior” of black Americans. But as a Christian, a savior is one thing Ms. Sears is not in the market for.

“I already have that,” she said. “I need the government to get out of my way so that I can accomplish things.”

Ms. Sears added that, despite Democrats’ claims to the contrary, the evidence shows the American dream is attainable for minority Americans.

Her father, for instance, came to the United States in 1963, at the height of the Civil Rights movement, with just $1.75 to his name. He arrived 17 days before Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Think about that,” she said. “He, as a black man, having read about and been told about what to expect in America, begged to come to America. He thought this was where he could restart his life. Then he brought me.”

Ms. Sears’s father, now comfortably retired, believed America was a place of opportunity for all. And that belief, she said, is also shared by the people pouring across the southern border now.

“They’re literally throwing their children over the fence to plant them in American soil,” she noted.

“Now, I say that you have to do it the right way. We have to know who’s entering the country, and we have to know everything about you. We have to give you permission. But they believe that if they get their foot on American soil, their trajectory, their opportunities, and everything else will be for the better. They’re not believing that we are racist or sexist. They don’t believe that.”

The lieutenant governor further added that her own story only serves as proof that the nation has progressed on the issue of race.

“Here I am, second in command in the former capital of the Confederate states. Don’t tell me America hasn’t changed—of course it has,” she said.

“Now, are there problems? Of course. But there are also problems in other countries. There is no utopia. But America is the best we’ve got, and we’re going to keep her.”

Dangers of Socialism

While Ms. Sears stressed that the American dream is still alive, she also warned of the threat socialism poses to its preservation.

“I’m from a Third World country, and I’ve seen propaganda,” she said. “I knew the word propaganda when I was 8 years old. I knew about what that meant because we were taken over by a socialist democrat.”

Democratic socialism, she noted, is touted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats on Capitol Hill as the best path forward for the United States.

“They say, ‘We’re going to do this the right way,’ but it destroyed Jamaica. It destroyed our economy and brought Castro over from Cuba—Cuba is only 45 miles from Jamaica.”

Ms. Sears said the ideals of socialism and communism—sharing everything with everyone—may sound good in theory, but in practice, they are unrealistic and breed resentment.

“In your job, if you work harder than your coworker, do you want to share the bonus that you got with your coworker who didn’t do half of the work that you did? Because that’s what communism says: ‘We’re all going to share. There is no merit in working hard.’ None of that makes any sense. If you work hard, you should get the reward. That sounds fair to anyone.”

Socialist and communist governments demand the centralization of power in the state. And despite the checks and balances put in place by America’s Founding Fathers, the federal government has only continued to expand in power over the years.

Ms. Sears noted that, during the COVID-19 pandemic especially, the constitutional rights of citizens were “trampled” as the government imposed strict mask and vaccine mandates while closing schools, houses of worship, and private businesses.

To prevent such a situation from happening again, she said the public needs to become better educated on “how America came to be.”

She also encouraged people not to allow fear to control them, as it did so many during the pandemic.

“Courage … is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing it even as you are afraid. So, you take those shaking knees of yours, and you go do it!”