I am a 76-year-old Black man who lived through Jim Crow and the civil rights movement. In spite of the challenges that those turbulent periods presented for me, I married my wife of 57 years, reared three children and, along with my grown children, live comfortably. I have been retired from the nursing profession 16 years, am a master gardener, world traveler, voracious reader and media junkie. My assessment of the current state of global political and racial climates is informed by lived experience.
I am concerned for America. For the past decade, the country has devolved into a sinister, dark nation. The media exploits the general lack of knowledge that Americans have of the complexities of their own history and, in this respect, preys on a vulnerable population. In concert with Donald Trump, mainstream media has peddled lies, xenophobia and racism. The facts are undisputed: He encouraged the violent events of January 6, 2021, attempted to thwart the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election and was convicted of state felony crimes by a jury of his peers. Anyone else would have been viewed and relentlessly presented by the media as unqualified to run for public office. Anyone else would also be sitting in jail, on an ankle monitor or reporting to a probation officer.
At the turn of the 20th century, W.E.B. DuBois defined the color line as America's central problem. As we approach the third decade of the 21st century, the normalization of criminal conduct by would-be insurrectionists and the recently elected president make clear that America's deep-seated histories of misogyny and racism persist. Our dogged unwillingness to address these problems head-on may well bode our undoing as the "shining city on the hill," in years to come.
FRANCIS E. LEWIS
Waggaman