Stop Following Those Who Should be in the Asylum

We are writing this week to share our sentiments on the recent statewide elections. Certain things became evident during those elections. First, the facts were indisputable to anyone who took the time to look over the results that, even to the casual observer, showed that the South notably voted with an undeniable race consciousness.

The South defied all the race-bated politics and voted accordingly. It didn't seem to matter what the office was; there appeared to be no Blacks who were qualified to hold any position. If you look at South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, or Louisiana, the voters remained consistent in how they cast their votes. We are still determining what role the media played in highlighting the race of particular candidates, but we are sure it played a significant role. Every newscast appeared to think it was necessary to announce the color of the candidates as if the voters could not see the differences. All that pointing out that a particular candidate of color had never held a government seat was unnecessary and unwarranted. All in all, the old South is rising again, whatever that implies.

We get the feeling America is growing further apart. We are not trying to place the blame on anything in particular. Still, it seems that politicians should be at the front of the line to accept responsibility for making everything a game in how they advertise and debate one another. Race has become the underlying currency alluded to without using plain old auditory. They usually find some other kind of way to slip it in. When you hear them talk about violence, racial undertones always go without speaking. The ultra-conservatives have formulated a way of making race the central focus of practically everything. Whether it be education or religion, their primary intention seems to be hiding what their ancestors did in the past. With the help of Clarence Thomas and Tim Scott, they seem to be trying to make the case all are equal now, so there does not need to be any more talk about the past.

The problem with that kind of thinking is it is built around a blindness to all who went into making America the race-conscious country it is. While some realize the need for an ongoing leveling of the playing fields, there's always an ultra-conservative who talks loud and unapologetically, saying enough is enough, and the way to go forward is to forget about the past while allowing them to have the advantages they have enjoyed all along. But we posit it takes some soul searching to see where, and if, there are still areas that need to be addressed to give the game even a pretense of fairness. Every wrong does not need to be righted, but they cannot be swept under the rug as if they didn't happen. The history must be told and understood so there will not be any chance of America turning down those same paths again. That is the real problem with the MAGA movement. The movement is being adopted by folks who, in many instances, never experienced the horrors and atrocities of the past. But they have been manipulated into thinking that they've been wronged somehow, and now they need to take their country back? When the truth is that whether you were a slave, a slave master, an immigrant, or an aboriginal, we all have a right to this land because of the suffering and abuse endured by our ancestors. No other people who invested so much have gotten so little in return for their labor.

How does America deal with its consciousness of how it treated AFRICAN AMERICAN people? By causing them to endure the indignities brought on by almost two hundred years of being forced to provide free labor before rewarding them with emancipation that came with no reparations or anything. And now the absurdity of what Trump has been so successful in getting so many to buy into is that they have somehow been wronged by benefiting from those hundreds of years of privileges derived from the enslaved people. Trump, coming from German ancestry, other Europeans, and people from all over the world deserve to be seen as the ones who have been mistreated and have more of a claim to this country than the rest of us. But we all have contributed to this nation's development, and we recognize others have contributed as much as Black people and gotten so little in return.

So, my friends, fellow countrymen, and fellow human beings, it is time for us to stop following the ones who should be in the asylum instead of preaching to the proverbial choir. Instead, we should learn as much as possible about this nation's less-than-glorious past, so our children and grandchildren will not be left celebrating what was the worse part of our country's history. Trying to get people to buy into CRITICAL RACE THEORY is the most asinine thing this country could do. Ignorance is not bliss, but knowledge is power. Knowledge allows you to look at the past for what it was and make decisions and choices based on the truth rather than a made-up story. We cannot allow anyone else a chance to select or rewrite our history.

My recommendation for you this week is to WAKE UP from the noise of those leading you down the path of destruction and take a right turn onto realism street, where the potential lies to lead us to get beyond racial conflict to a place of racial conciliation.

Seriously Yours,

The Old South, Must Never Be Allowed To Rise Again.

Elder, James W. Williams

Chairperson, Advocacy Organization, Lifelineplus