Recorded from Frostburg, Maryland, 2021.
This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic. The full collection of stories is available at www.museumonmainstreet.org.
Max Hancock (00:00): Hi, my name is Max Hancock. I use he, him, his pronouns. I'm from the Annapolis region of Maryland, but when I moved off to college, it was to Frostburg. I don't think I believe in American as an adjective because, I mean, this is going to sound crazy, but there's a lot of people in this country, and there's this huge spectrum of intent, and just beliefs from every possible culture and every possible point of view.
Max Hancock (00:48): I think there's an assumption that "American" is going to be synonymous with patriotic, kind of wholesome, kind of meaty, like hamburgers and the 4th of July, but I don't think hamburgers even were invented in America, first of all. I know that there's that saying as American as apple pie. The first literary reference to apple pie was by Geoffrey Chaucer, so I don't think it's a very good expression. That's not really the point.
Max Hancock (01:32): I think people want to believe that America is symbolic of freedom and justice but, in reality, when you look at the history of America and the history of the movements that have defined America, it's more of a country defined by underdog stories. America is a country of underdog stories, but they're not always the underdog that you want to succeed.
Max Hancock (02:11): We love a good underdog story. We love thinking, "Oh, this little guy rose up and became the best out of everyone else just by pulling himself up by his bootstraps." But sometimes the underdog is super racist. Sometimes, the underdog is a guy that I'm not comfortable walking past a statue of everyday on my way to English class or whatever.
Max Hancock (02:40): I would say that America is a concept and name only. When you really look at America, there's a lot going on that you couldn't even begin to define in less than an essay. I think that diversity is really important to America. I think it's one of the things that makes America so interesting culturally, but it's also one of the things that makes America so chaotic all the time. It seems like we have the weirdest political atmosphere at any given point, and it's because there's no such thing as being American.
Asset ID: 2021.03.13.a
