The refrain from leftists about this or that being "not who we are" is the only thing they say that you can take to the bank.  They are not speaking for American values, or even beneficial values.  They are virtue-signaling, with emphasis more on the signal than the virtue.

America had values before these self-important nitwits came along.  We believed in working for what we get and getting what we work for.  We believed in fair treatment of each and every person.  We believed in justice (without the prefix "social").  We believed that a person should be allowed to pursue his happiness as long as he doesn't hurt others in the process.  We believed that most people could and should decide what kind of light bulb, what kind of toilet, and how big a serving of soda they want, without the government forcing a designated decision down everyone's throat.

We knew that money buys options.  Better homes, better cars, better health care, better food.  Better everything, really.  We knew that poverty can happen to a person even if he makes all his decisions as wisely as humanly possible, because disasters can destroy all a person has.  We also knew that some people are weak, some make mistakes, and some are just unlucky.  We all may need a second chance or two, or more.  We relied on social pressure to provide incentives to those who could work but don't want to.  Everybody do what you can, and ask for help only when your best isn't even marginally enough.

We were more openly religious, more comfortable showing our faith in God.  Did atheists object?  Probably, but they and we could agree to disagree.  We didn't suggest death and dismemberment because someone disagreed with us, even on fundamental issues.  We might hound them with discussion, hoping to convince them we were right, but they didn't bruise or bleed from listening.

What does the left believe in?  Power.  Not objective truth; I suspect they reject the existence of objective truth because if there is no truth, then there can be no lies.  Not in live and let live, not in agreeing to disagree; they rarely hesitate to pile on and try to utterly destroy you if you don't toe the party line.  Not in working and getting a fair wage; they believe in the spoils system, where you get what they give you.  (This is their version of trickle-down economics.)

Did we always live up to our ideals?  Of course not.  Our country is flawed, as even the saints were.  It doesn't mean we aren't the greatest country on the planet.  People from south of our border aren't demanding free plane tickets to get them to Sweden or Norway.  Blacks who think the country is horribly racist aren't generally packing up and moving to South Africa.  Liberals who swore to move out of the country if Trump was elected didn't go.

Even as the liberals blather on about how deplorable we are compared to them, all I can think is, fortunately, they are not who I am, or who you are.  We are in the majority.  Our values are American values.  Their values are dross.