You know the phrase: “It’s [insert year] and [insert problem] still exist.” I find that when I hear it, it reminds me of a quote from George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemn to repeat it. I look at the events that are unfolding today and note the remarkable resemblance to events that have happened a long time ago in a history that many would just like to ignore because it suits them.
But then, a paradox comes into play. I, fortunately, know the past and the lessons that it teaches; however, I am stuck repeating it along with those who simply do not know. I fear that the past does not repeat itself rather we have never moved forward in the first place.
I can say, “it is 2016 and racism still exist,” both explicitly and implicitly. Today, I hear the rhetoric of Donald Trump and his supports as he maliciously goes after different racial group that make up the population in the United States.
It echoes the FDR’s support of interning Japanese-Americans and even Italian-Americans, as they were not considered a classification of white at the time, during World War II. It echoes President Woodrow Wilson’s policy to enforce racially segregation in the workplace. It echoes the Founders of this country, who owned people of colour and thought they were as dangerous as wild animals if set free.
Today’s version of this rhetoric is not new; it is the same idea in different words. I have learned that America is a country that like to talk about freedom, equality and God given rights but does not like to show it.
The main slogan of the Trump Campaign is “Make America Great Again!” However, I have a hard time figuring out when America was ever great. Yes, the United States is a better option than many other countries around the world; however, better does not mean great because the expected average for a country to be great in this day and age is far higher than what any many countries have achieved thus far. Or maybe it is just me being an African-American and being on the wrong side of racial history of America.
If what makes America great is the rights and privileges that are bestowed upon it citizens, well before 1856, only white men with certain amounts of property qualified to vote, even though there were people of colour born in America and built America; even though I am sure women existed before 1856 unless they are actually a new phenomenon and I have been lied to for so long.
The problem was not fixed in 1856 because 1856 was when the property qualifications for voting were dropped so that all white men could possibly vote. It was not until 1870 for non-white men to vote. It took until 1920 for women to vote and 1924 for Native Americans. At this point you would think that would be everyone but it was not. The 1960s and 1970s saw the voting rights of Washington, DC (which only has a limited vote in Presidential Elections), language minorities, the poor who could not afford poll taxes and 18 to 21 year olds.
For those who support this campaign, this idea, please let me know when America was Great, when it did not disregard entire populations of people; when it did not disenfranchise entire populations, when it respected those who deserved because I just do not see it. We have not moved forward.
