Always Been A Divided America
We’ve been holding our breath.
We, as in the millions of Americans dedicated to preserving democracy.
And now we can exhale.
There is a big sense of relief as I breathe out. There is simultaneously a calm, collectedness suppressing my naivete.
I am hopeful.
But, we have a lot of work to do.
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In the last four years, we have lost leadership, direction, and truth. And had we not showed up to the polls, these things would seem further out of reach. Now, we’ve added pressure on our newly elected officials to reconcile with a broken America. But it is naive to think they are solely responsible for changing our country when over 70 million Americans still voted for a racist, sexist bigot; who, at the end of the day, does not give a shit about his voters.
Unfortunately, how our country got here — this current state of division — is not surprising. As John Oliver reminds us in an episode of Last Week Tonight:
We have always been a divided America.
Our actions contradictory to our values. Our culture stolen from many others. Our individualism, a byproduct of having robbed other identities. Our lies, an effort to disguise our ignorance. And our obsession with an intangible power.
What a toxic concoction.
My frustration has turned to pity. How can I be angry at someone for something they genuinely can’t see? Do I blame them? I can’t. It’s not only their ignorance.
The Democratic party, too quick to claim heroism for the results of the election, has dodged many opportunities in the past to make drastic changes. It also doesn’t come as a surprise that so many have turned their backs on them. They’re the girl who cried wolf.
Now we’re supposed to trust you when the world is burning (literally)?
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Before I started this piece I came across a quote by journalist James Clear. It read,
“You can borrow knowledge, but not action.”
It’s one thing to read that back home in Kansas City. It is another to read it while in the deep south, standing on the Edmund Pettus Bridge after the Black Lives Matter protests, John Lewis’ death, and the biggest voter turnout in U.S. history.
It all lands different.
While in Montgomery I visited the Legacy Museum — the Equal Justice Initiative’s museum about the history of slavery to mass incarceration — and the Memorial for Peace and Justice — honoring those who have been lynched.
It’s a hard hit to the heart, but a necessary one.
Facing the reality of America’s history is not an easy thing to do. I felt shame; not only for what our country has done, but for the past ideologies that continue to pervade half of our country’s minds today. I feel guilt for not knowing some of the most influential Black and Brown leaders. Yet, I also I felt inspired and humbled — forces that call me to continue to pay my respect to our ancestors who have laid the groundwork before us.
They didn’t march because political parties couldn’t get along. They marched because elected officials perpetuated America’s grim history.
I didn’t marched in opposition of your values. I marched to show you, in fact, we have the same values, but they’re being misconstrued. I didn’t march because I disagreed with you. I marched because I disagreed with the system that hurts you, too. I didn’t march in opposition of your political identity. I marched in response to a clear, present example of history repeating itself.
You can read all the books, learn all the facts and repeat them line by line, but if you do not act, you are powerless.
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Now, as I sit on the porch of an over one-hundred year old plantation home in Selma, I can only think about how I want to live to see the day where there are no more threats.
