Month: August 2023

In honor of my birthday weekend, my children and their families have come for a visit from Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Palmdale. So, I’m taking the week off from writing my blog to be fully present to enjoy the company of my three adult children, their three spouses and my three grandsons. Please take this opportunity to read some of my past posts that you missed or reread posts you enjoyed.

As always, thank you for caring enough to read my weekly musings about life. Have a great week.

Most Americans simply want to live their lives in peace, free from the political strife and turmoil that blankets the airways and social media. I admit that I’m one of them and that I’m not very successful at it these days. Each day, I do myself the favor of finding some time to turn away from the frustration caused by what I can only describe as a national identity crisis.

Americans are at war with each other over who we are and who we should become. At one extreme, there are those who long for simpler days when wealthy white men enjoyed the power of a democratic republic, and the fruits of capitalism were reserved for them. These people, including presidential candidates Trump, DeSantis, and Ramaswamy seek a future where poor people of color are essentially stripped of their voting rights, exploited for cheap labor, and women returned to the essential role of wife and mother. In their ideal country, faith in their God supersedes science, actual history is obscure, there are strictly two genders, LGBTQ folks will return to the closet they will build for them, and only wealthy Christian immigrants (preferably white) are welcome. This is Christian Nationalism at its core. On the other extreme, are the WOKE activists, regulators of capitalism, and socialists.

In this country, socialism and communism conjures up all kinds of fears in many people. Extremists among conservatives quickly label those who disagree with them as either a socialist or less commonly, a communist. But few people actually know what socialism and communism are. A quick search reveals that socialism is a system where the means of production and distribution of goods are owned and controlled collectively. Communism is a system of holding all property in common based on Marxism to create a classless society where all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state.

The reality is that there are very few socialists and even fewer communists among us. However, there are several systems in our country that are socialized. For example, our military, our public schools, our fire and police departments, our bridges and highways, national disaster relief, and public parks. These are systems wherein the production and distribution of goods are owned and controlled collectively. They are paid for by our tax dollars and controlled by elected officials and government agencies on our behalf. There are many people in this country who believe that socialized healthcare, called “Universal Healthcare” should be added to the list beyond Medicare and Medicaid. All these “socialist” systems fit within the preamble to the Constitution which tasks the government to “provide for common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” In our democratic republic, the decision to add universal healthcare to the list would be determined by the representatives that we the people vote into office. It is ultimately up to us to decide. But at this moment, the fight is over the continued existence of democracy itself.

The actual frontline fighters in the current national identity war are the Christian Nationalists and the WOKE activists. WOKE activists believe in making it easier for citizens to vote while Christian Nationalists seek to curtail access to the ballad box and to limit the power of certain votes. WOKE activists embrace the aspiration of the Constitution to provide equal justice under the law, while Christian Nationalists favor some people over others. WOKE activists insist upon the civil liberties found in the Bill of Rights with practical safeguards and limitations while Christian Nationalists believe these rights are absolute even if they harm others. Both WOKE activists and Christian Nationalists view the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness clause found in our Declaration of Independence as their driving force. However, Christian Nationalists interpret it to mean they can freely bully and discriminate against others.

In pursuit of WOKE ideals, we had a civil rights movement which forced legal compliance to end discrimination. That was followed by diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. At their core, these are an effort to capture the hearts and minds of all Americans by building an appreciation for the diversity that exists within the country and to honor the rich histories, contributions, perspectives, and values everyone has to offer. Equity is an attempt to remove remaining systems that hinder the equal access to opportunity for economic and social progress among previously excluded groups. And inclusion is an effort to bring historically excluded people and perspectives into spaces of prominence, power and decision making. These core principles gave birth to the Black Lives Matter Movement to which White Christian Nationalists responded with copycat marches from Nazi-Germany.

I am grateful to live in a democratic republic. In our form of government, power is exercised by the people through their elected representatives. For now, we have the right to protest, to petition our government, and to vote and have our votes counted. Our democracy is characterized by the equality of rights and privileges among citizens. And herein lies the problem for Christian nationalists. Their view of what America should be is increasingly a minority view and they afraid of losing power. The election of Barack Obama and the subsequent backlash represented by Donald Trump signals the beginning of our current struggle.

I see how mentally disruptive it is for a person who believes white people are superior to see people of color excel academically, professionally, politically, and creatively. It must be abhorrent to religious folks to witness gay pride parades, gay marriage, drag shows, and transgender folks in the public square. It must be horrible to imagine women making a frivolous choice to abort a baby when you believe it is murder. It must be hard to have a female boss, especially if she is a woman of color. It must be frustrating to compete for college admission or employment with all these women and people of color when in your mind they aren’t nearly as qualified as you because you are white and male. It must be disgusting to watch females flaunt their bodies in sexually explicit ways and demand sexual fulfillment as an empowered woman who no longer relies on a man. These are societal changes that democracy enabled, and these unsettling changes are why many on the far right are willing to discard democracy.

The exercising of civil liberties among people who do not share their religious values or beliefs is so terrifying to them that in their quest to persuade voters to vote Republican, some are pushing a false narrative that abortion is legal up to the time of birth, that the southern border is wide open and dangerous people are coming in, that teachers are indoctrinating children to become gay or transgender when in fact they are helping to end the bullying caused by bigotry. In their zeal to win voter support, some have gone so far as to push false accusations that democrats are pedophiles, groomers, and baby killers.

The reality is that no one is stopping the religious right from exercising their religion. It is just that WOKE activists contend that others should not be forced to abide by the religious beliefs of others. For example, if a religious person doesn’t believe in gay marriage, they shouldn’t get gay married or attend gay weddings. If someone believes abortion is murder, they don’t have to have abortions. The problem is that these choices aren’t something the far right wants to embrace. A few are seeking to roll back the Constitution and the rule of law to get their way. The road to fascism is before us.

Fascism is a totalitarian governmental system lead by a dictator with an emphasis on nationalism, militarism, and often racism. The warning signs are easy to detect. Look for book bans to limit knowledge and perspectives. Look for an attack on the free press to suppress investigations and factual information. Look for anti-intellectualism. Look for the cult of personality. Look for the amassing of guns to enforce their will through violence. Look for the scapegoating of groups as the cause of problems. Look for the paranoia that says a good way of life is being threatened by outsiders.

This next election will determine whether we will maintain our current freedoms as a democratic republic or slide further down the road toward fascism lead by Christian Nationalists.

I accept that upon watching the brawl on August 5th at the Montgomery dock, many of us felt like a long overdue sweet revenge was exacted upon anti-black white folks in payment for hundreds of years of violence perpetrated against black bodies with impunity. Those white folks who assaulted the black co-captain, Dameion Pickett, for simply doing a job that inconvenienced them were not only beaten down by black spectators who came to his rescue, but they were also arrested and soon charged with third degree assault. It appears that justice is finally being served and I’m very happy about that. And I’m extremely happy that Dameion Pickett survived this particular incident with his life. So many others before him did not. I also want to acknowledge that the viral video of the incident gave birth to incredibly clever memes, t-shirts, songs, poems, reenactments, and a host of other creative and comedic responses.

But I’m not laughing. And I actually worried for my son who is vacationing in Maine with his family. The population of Maine is 98% white. There would be no black calvary to rescue him should he be attacked by anti-black white thugs. While I sympathize with the righteous celebration behind the sentiment that these white folks finally got what they deserved, I’m equally horrified and disheartened that in 2023 some white folks continue to think they have a right to violently attack black people, to call the police on black people for simply existing in certain spaces, and to continuously treat us as inferior human beings who shouldn’t overstep “our place”. The fact that three of these attackers were in their 20s is disturbing because it means that the white supremacist mindset was passed down to yet another generation. And I admit that I’m concerned about it.

Despite our many contributions to the physical and cultural development of this country, black people continue to be targets of insecure white people. If we build something, they try to tear it down. If we succeed, they try to discredit our success. If we gain power, they try to disrupt it. If we speak up, they try to silence us. If we move in, they move out. In truth, it must be exhausting to harbor so much fear and hate towards a group of people because they happen to have darker skin. But I can’t blame them for this destructive mindset. I’m well aware that since the country’s founding, so much time, marketing, and public policy have been devoted to promoting this negative view of blackness to advantage whiteness.

I recognize that there are people who continue to enrich themselves by promoting such nonsense. Shame on them and shame on those gullible individuals who continue to buy into it this low-level ego-manipulation. I’m glad the antics of these haters are being exposed at every turn and that consequences are being served up by employers, the justice system, and the courts. But it is time that we hold the actual purveyors of this fear and hate accountable. This includes certain media outlets, think tanks, wealthy influencers, and political leaders.

For example, we cannot afford to silently allow Governors like Ron DeSantis and his backers to ban books and to distort black history in schools. We also can’t stand by as he arbitrarily suspends a duly elected black female state attorney (Monique Worrell). DeSantis claims she is soft on crime which is code for she isn’t prosecuting enough black and brown people. Despite the fact that crime was actually down in her jurisdiction, he used his power to appoint a conservative judge to replace her. I hope the NAACP and other civil rights organizations stand beside Worrell to challenge this suspension in court, just as they are challenging other attacks on civil liberties designed to curtail the progress of minorities.

As I mentioned before, I’m amazed by the creativity that was on full display following the boat dock brawl. As African Americans and black folks in this country, we should continue to use our creativity, hard work, collective money, and voting power to campaign for respect, fairness, justice, laws, and the common decency we deserve. As a child, I roamed the streets singing James Brown’s song, “Say it Loud, ‘I’m black and I’m proud’.” I gladly donated to and displayed Black Lives Matter stuff. I embraced the concept of being “woke”. I dedicated much of my professional career to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

However, I predicted and was right about the eventual attacks from the right on these noble efforts, even though they make no logical sense and can present no rational argument for their opposition. These folks were going to be moved by emotion, not logic, and I knew it, arguing that they just don’t like any of it because they don’t like us. Americans have been programmed to either fear, despise, or at least consider blackness inferior. And sadly, some of us black folks have internalized that programming. So, here we are.

For years, I have argued that it’s going to take a massive marketing effort to change the hearts and minds of the American psyche. We need to foment the sentiment that we are all fully human, that reparations to repair damage is warranted, that equality under the law is constitutional, and that equal opportunity is the ultimate goal. I believe that we are capable of and must create a new narrative for ourselves that spills over into the greater society.

Until we can successfully re-brand ourselves as African Americans, the time for declaring victory and dancing in the streets is premature. As things stand today, with MAGA and white Christian nationalists having a moment, I’m dreading a white backlash to the incident in Montgomery. So, please be careful out there and steer clear of places like Maine where there are no black calvary to rescue you.

t took more than a minute for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to finally indict former President Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Despite the evidence against him, Trump supporters on C-Span Washington Journal cling to claims that Trump is being unjustly persecuted by Democrats, that he did nothing wrong, that the real criminals are the Bidens, and that the DOJ has been weaponized against Trump. Of course, I am more than a little disturbed to hear Trump tell his supporters that the DOJ is really after them and that he is just standing in the way, protecting them from this fictional Bogeyman. However, he never provides a coherent reason why the DOJ is after them. And worse, politicians like Kari Lake have the audacity to threaten MAGA protection of Trump on social media while evoking their NRA connections.

In the thick of things, I’m grateful that C-Span bought on an attorney and law professor, Kimberly Wehle to talk about why the January 6th indictment is important for the preservation of our democracy. She explained in detail each of the schemes Trump is accused of implementing to overturn the election. She explained each of the four counts and his actions associated with them. She then asked the listeners to consider whether they want to continue to live in a country designed to rule from the bottom up where we the people select our political leaders through our vote or to live in a country where political leaders decide who wins elections by subverting the vote and overturning elections at will. Trump tried to deny the will of the people so he could remain in power. When Mike Pence refused to fulfil his role in his unconstitutional scheme, Trump sent thousands of his deceived, fearful, and angry supporters to the Capital to “stop the steal” when in fact he was the one trying to steal the 2020 election.

It was disheartening to hear Republicans call in to C-Span and accuse the Constitutional professor of being a communist and a person who hates the country. I’ve noticed that passionate people often resort to name-calling out of frustration. That’s what is happening today among otherwise decent adults: “Democrats are pedophiles”; “Democrats are communists”; “Democrats are baby killers”; “Democrats are trying to destroy the nation”; “Democrats are indoctrinating our children to be gay or transgender” and “Democrats are brainwashed”.

Of course, I’ve done my own fair share of name calling, however I limit my characterization to small groups within the Republican Party who have shown themselves deserving of the labels I’ve attached to them. I often refer to staunch Trump supporters as “cult members” and white Christian nationalists as the “American Taliban”. Staunch Trump supporters demonstrate the same mindset psychologists find in cult members and white Christian nationalists possess the same desire as the Taliban to install a theocracy, imposing their religious beliefs on everyone and robbing certain members of the society of their rights. In my view, these factions within the Republican Party represent an existential threat to minorities and are clearly in opposition to the “no establishment of religion” clause in the Constitution itself.

Despite all evidence, there are political candidates for president, like Vivek Ramaswamy, who defend the indefensible as though it is more important to give a pass to a political candidate than hold him accountable for breaking the law trying to overturn our election. As often happens these days, Republican accusations turn out to be confessions. For example, the whole “stop the steal” mantra is just one case in point. The only one conspiring to steal the election was Trump and the six unindicted (and unnamed for now) co-conspirators according to the indictment.

The deeper point is that Trump supporters really don’t care that he was trying to steal the election because they believe that Trump is trying to “Make America Great” again. And some continue to believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the election was stolen. In their words, they believe that Trump will usher in a White Christian state that will put an end to Black Lives Matter, abortion, LGBTQ rights, and restore some mythical Christian nation run by Trump. It is terrifying to listen to fellow Americans openly and without shame espouse these beliefs. Many are willing to fight another civil war to make this happen and to put Trump back into office. The language of revenge, oppression and violence is scary.

It’s ironic that while they complain that Biden has weaponized the DOJ without actual evidence of interference, Trump openly promises to do just that. If elected, he has promised to use the Justice Department to seek revenge on his political enemies. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that this has become an anti-democratic cult and white supremacist movement that must be stopped at all costs. These are truly dangerous times. It is hard to understand how the polls can be frighteningly close when it comes to a Trump versus Biden election. Some think the economy is pushing people away from Biden and towards Republicans for economic relief. But when have the Republicans ever presided over a great economy?

But this is where we are. We are living in an era when too many Americans can’t find reliable news sources. While I was at the nail salon on the day of the indictment, the owner had Fox News on. After listening for about 15 minutes, a few of us customers railed at the distorted news coverage and I finally asked the owner to turn the channel, explaining to her that Fox wasn’t a reliable source of news. I told her that I would never trust a news broadcast that admitted to lying to its viewers by promoting false stolen election claims and had to pay a large settlement for their lies. Many other Americans stop listening to the news altogether. All it took was for Trump and a few wealthy individuals and corporations to successfully corrupt the news.

Additionally, our current situation can be attributed to Americans failure to understand basic U.S. civics, our Constitution, and history itself. Trump says he loves the uneducated. And that’s because he knows just how easy it is to sow hatred and a fear of others into the hearts and minds of otherwise decent human beings. We are watching how deep rooted that hatred and fear have become and how easily these folks will threaten violence to literally throw away our democratic republic.

The 2024 election will be the most important election of our lifetime. If Trump or even DeSantis wins the office, our country will literally lose the rule of law as well as free and fair elections.