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A Crisis In America; How Did We Get Here?
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| Photo By C. G. P. Grey - [1], CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=256308 |
By JV Howard
African-Americans live, to a certain degree, in a constant crisis management mode
and have been for some time. Crisis defined; a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political, or international affairs, leading to a decisive change...
It produces a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in personal life. But how did we get here?
In answering the question how did we get here - in a crisis mode - take a look at
present day realities that point to social, economic, health, and political quandaries
that have severely watered down the promise of this countries democratic process.
The promise of inclusion has morphed into a promise of preference and privilege; the
preference to ignore the basic human rights and dignity of all it's citizens and the privilege of immunity and exemption.
A quick inventory of current events highlight headlines that reads ‘Worst Week in
America’ as a major social crisis with guns and mass killings continue unabated, a economic crisis governed by late night tweets, a self inflicted opioid health crisis, and a political crisis where leadership is more bot than human. A bot is a device or piece of software that can execute commands, reply to tweets, or perform routine tasks like order from McDonalds.
Article On The Crisis In America By JV Howard Continues Below...
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| Photo By Angela Radulescu - Toni_Morrison_2008.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5526016 |
Contemporary U.S. leadership is essentially on autopilot guided by their DNA seeing no need to be transparent, conscientious, or empathetic to the consequences of the decisions and policies enacted. Example: it is egregious and inhuman to implement policy that separate immigrant children from their parents then go home to yours who are descendants of immigrants themselves... scandalous behavior no doubt!
It is without a doubt that government decisions that impact Americans incrementally generally impact African-Americans exponentially. The check off list of issues that
define and measure leadership is painful for African- Americans: the law guaranteeing
health care has been sabotaged, voting rights has been strategically undermined, the
justice department/police continue to discriminate, and the president repeatedly at-
tack African American representatives.
The latest attack on Rep Elijah Cummings, a seasoned veteran of political and civil rights confrontations, who has more street cred than the president should not be subject to vitriolic mugging for political leverage.
The most potent weapon against policies like these, the guarantor of political
rights, is the ability to vote. Gerrymandering along with the theory of massive illegal votes are the latest tools to depress voter turnout going into the 2020 election cycle.
It's in the RNC’s playbook and the referees - SCOTUS - look the other way via ideological interpretation since there are multiple accounts of wrongdoings. It's a practice of ill intent - to establish political advantage to a political party by manipulating district boundaries. From the same playbook is the legal strategy to stack the courts with like minded ideologues and on the human front employ apathy to not feel your pain. And there is a lot of pain - too much.
Make no mistake this kind of mindset now reverberates throughout the globe;
case in point, North Korea launch missiles in defiance of international accord; China
manipulates tariffs in response to U.S. economic idiocy, Hong Kong protesters continue to challenge tyranny, protesters in Russia face off against Putin’s dogma, and Puerto
Rico elects three governors in a week in search of leadership.
Meanwhile Iran shoot down a U.S. drone and seizes a British cargo ship. These acts underscore a crisis demeanor where a condition of instability or danger lurk...because effective leadership is AWOL.
The type of leadership needed to navigate the 21st century has proven illusory
over time. When we have a genuine leader who cares (Obama) we obstruct, when we
have a pseudo leader who don't care (Trump) we enable - incompetence. Absent a legitimate leader to the throne the default becomes anybody who gains the position, therefore, the worst case scenario is front and center as we have grossly
enabled a political monster.
If we measure the likes of Hannibal crossing the ALP with elephants, Mandela unshackling apartheid, Chaka Zulu bucking colonialism, we find an immeasurable underlying mindset; not just a “can do” attitude but a “must do” conviction. The kind of persona that rallies not the kind that fosters dissent.
They each had blowback in their spirit, standup in their disposition, and strike back against tyranny - in any form - as their mantra. Today the antithesis of these attributes go missing as we obsess over AI artificial intelligence, Mars, driverless cars, building walls, and Russia, all while ignoring a child throwing a tantrum for his mother. How did we get here?
Today administrators, many in a holding pattern, repeatedly succumb to heartless
ideals (greed & power) thereby creating crisis after crisis. And we are all paying for it.
Climate change should not be a hard sell, babies washing ashore should not be tolerated, and families in cages are unacceptable. No one cares about the latest billionaire on the planet or how soon we can get to Mars, the rollback needed is suffocating under capitalistic tendency, the chastise needed is paralyzed by caucus and debate, and the riposte mandated by rampant incapacity produces a meek hybrid democracy which woefully undergird us all.
The Obamas reminded us when they go low we go high...it's an important piece
of advice - if not - we are all headed down the road to perdition. Why? The President
repeatedly benchmarks a new low.
I find a quote from our beloved Toni Morrison appropriate; “There is really noth-
ing more to say-except why? But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge
in how..”
How did we get here?
The article ideas expressed are those of freelance commentator JV Howard and may not be totally reflective of Scoop publications. You can reach JV Howard at: jvguru@outlook.com
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