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Former President George W. Bush said democracy is facing new and serious threats, and p "bigotry seemed emboldened" in the country.

According to Bush, the “health of the democratic spirit itself is at issue." The “urgent task at hand is the renewal of that spirit."

He pointed out, "Democracy remains the definition of political legitimacy. That has not change, and it will not change."  According to him, it is imperative to seriously take the challenges to the democracy.

The former President shared his views during his remarks at the George W. Bush Institute on Thursday. The Institute hosted a national forum on freedom, free markets, and security in New York.

In his speech Bush also noted that “economic, political,and national security challenges proliferate," and the tendency to turn inward is making it worse.

Bush encourages Americans to reject bigotry

Additionally, he noted that the public confidence in American institutions declined in recent decades. The obvious and pressing needs paralyzed the country's governing class  The American dream seems out of reach to those who feel they are left behind in the changing economy.

Furthermore, Bush said, partisan conflicts became deep and sharp because of discontent. "Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seem more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.”

The former president encouraged Americans to reject bigotry and white supremacy. He said, "Bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed,” said Bush.

America needs to recall and recover its identity

Moreover, Bush emphasized that people often judge other groups by their worst examples and judge themselves by their best intentions. They are “forgetting the image of God”, which “we should see in each other.”

We have also seen the distortion of nationalism in nativism. Americans are forgetting the dynamism that immigration is always brought to the country, according to the former President.

Bush further stated that the isolationist sentiments are coming back. Americans are forgetting that “conflict, instability, and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism.”

He also stressed that free trade helped the United States become an economic power. However, he noted that the confidence of Americans in the value of free markets and international trade is fading.  He encouraged Americans to accept globalization.

He emphasized, We are “forgetting the need to recall and recover our identity. Americans have great advantage. To renew our country, we only need to remember our values.”