By Christopher Young ,
Contributing Writer,
The question always hangs in the air. And now, as we zero in on the upcoming presidential election, it hangs even more heavily. Is this the America we want to be? It is impossible not to reflect on who or what America truly is as we approach this election. We’ve reached a point in our national greediness where, who we select to sit behind the resolute desk, will absolutely determine if our democracy can remain moving forward, or if we reel backward.
We were born of British sin and have always been horribly imperfect. History.com and hosts of other sources tell the story of America’s founding by British settlers – these folks already possessed the mindset of the British Empire – growth, expansion, wealth and power. Enlisting slave labor was nothing new to them, it was a routine aspect of pursuing their interests. What was new was the New World, and their ability to access it and conquer it.
Elevating the British economy became dependent on rich and exotic commodities like tobacco, sugar cane and indigo. First in the Caribbean islands, then along the east coast of North America, they set up plantations and sent cargo ships full of African slaves – slave labor allowed tremendous profit. Slavery was surely going on in many other parts of the world – treating some human beings sub-humanly to achieve their own success and geographical dominance was totally acceptable to many, not just the British, yet now it is searingly branded into the ethos of the New World.
The pain, indignity, suffering and death that persisted from our beginnings defie accurate definition by any language. We claimed Independence from British rule in 1776, yet the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t come for another 87 years, and its impact was mixed – sending a moral signal, but not truly ending slavery.
Some historians say that the Emancipation Proclamation allowed this nation to march on to victory as one nation. When the Civil War ended, Jim Crow was ushered in – another 100 years of America treating certain human beings sub-humanly; a sin that has never been atoned.
And what about Native Americans? Now only about 3% of the national population, natives were strong-armed, dislocated and diminished – in favor of white power. More sinfulness, greed, power at all costs is embodied in the Trail of Tears.
Who pushes the ideal of America as pure and equitable? The reality of America being pure and equitable for all Americans has never been realized. Does that mean that this is the America we want? Inequality, selfishness, hatred of our fellows?
More of the unclothed version of America. In the 1940’s, Truman’s Executive Order 9835 required screening of all civil service employees for loyalty. In the 1950’s, we had McCarthyism with twenty-years of Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO 1956-1976), Hoover’s effort to track, destabilize, and destroy those he deemed to be dissident groups. Malcolm X, The Black Panthers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Nation of Islam were high on his list.
In the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement was born, even as the Vietnam War still raged. In the 1980’s, we saw mass incarceration take hold and we remain the largest incarcerator in all the world. In the 1990’s, we watched the vicious beating of Rodney King, riots in Los Angeles and a Million Man March.
In the 2000’s, America elected a president that was non-white for the first time and immediately a modern-day Tea Party movement was born to push back – a conservative populist social and political movement still active today. In the 2010’s, Trayvon Martin was murdered – an unarmed, 17-year-old, African American. His crime in America? He looked suspicious to the murderer who was then acquitted because he was standing his ground. In 2020, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis Police. Social outrage poured into the streets of America and coursed through corporate boardrooms in America – for a while. Now the outrage has subsided significantly.
These are a sprinkling of undeniable truths about America. A nation that knows the difference between right and wrong and often vigorously demands progress and social advancement, yet ultimately loses its stick-to-itiveness, falling back to its own individual greed and selfishness – this is America unclothed.
Isn’t it noteworthy that America is a nation of immigrants who always have something to say about what is going on in other countries, even as we turn a blind eye to how we treat our own people? We’ll send troops to correct other people’s behavior far quicker than we ever self-correct. Some folks claim guns don’t kill as thousands of our children die annually by gun violence. America is the wealthiest country in the world, yet roughly 18% of our people live in poverty. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis just updated its report on U.S. Wealth Inequality. The top 10% of households by wealth hold 67% of household wealth in America, whereas the bottom 50% of households by wealth hold just 2.5% of household wealth. Black families owned about 23 cents for every $1 of white family wealth, on average. Hispanic families owned about 19 cents for every $1 of white family wealth, on average. Some use the term greatness, yet is America unclothed really something to brag about?
We now have one presidential candidate who would cement America’s continued inequity. He is incapable of doing elsewise. Until you cut the head off the snake it breeds and flourishes. Voters have a chance on November 5th to do just that. U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) recently summed it up, “Hate is the core calculus of the Trump campaign. He has spent years inciting hatred for immigrants, Latinos, and anyone he considers to be enemies from within. Hate is not an accident, it is the consequence of who Donald Trump is, always has been, and always will be.” Today the polls say 47% don’t care about that, they want him back.
America unclothed.
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