Dear America
Image: Bruce Plante
The time capsule is a collection of articles that were originally published at various times in the past, providing social commentary on a wide range of issues. The stories are prefaced by the author’s reflections drawing parallels to present day trends and developments.
Author’s note: I originally wrote this piece a few months before the 2016 election...and we all know what a disaster that turned out to be! As I look back at these words, I can almost feel the trepidation that had begun to sneak into my psyche. I think in those months leading up to the election in particular, many of us could clearly see the signs of America’s lingering ‘race problem’ rearing its ugly head once again. And, while we hoped and prayed for an alternate ending, we could see the same old storylines that have featured in America’s history playing themselves out like a reboot no-one asked for. Of course this all culminated in the election of Donald Trump and the ‘Make America Great Again’ era.
So what has changed in the five years since? A lot and not much… In a way I think Trump’s abysmal legacy answered the question I posed at the end of this letter about how history would remember America. The facade, for those who prefer to live in reality, really and truly is over. America’s ‘race problem’ isn’t going to remain a whispered family secret that no one wants to bring up at holiday get-togethers, it's out in the open now for all to see.
But for the oppressed what difference does that truly make? We marched in the streets for a full year and beyond proclaiming that “Black lives matter” but did the police stop killing us? What hope for progress do we really have if critical race theory is considered a controversial educational concept? Is the trajectory for the systemic transformation we desperately need really on the right path if the so-called ‘good guys’ won’t even admit that America is a racist country?
Just like when I put pen to paper all those years ago, I have more questions than answers. Time, as always, will be the ultimate revealer.
Dear America,
2016 marks my ten year anniversary as a resident of your borders, but unfortunately this is not a love letter.
When I moved here a decade ago, you led me to believe that I had won.
“I am the land of opportunity” you said, “here, if you work hard you can do anything you set your mind to.”
What an astronomical lie that was.
As I look back I can see that there were clues along the way of this elaborate deception you’ve created. Your quiet indignation at my continued success despite my dark complexion being the primary one. I had no idea how critical it would be to my survival here that you hadn’t had the opportunity to bombard my infant mind with false truths about what my blackness represents; no idea that I would eventually circumvent the best efforts of your elaborate system of suppression in large part because I grew up elsewhere and am lucky enough to call another beautiful land my birthplace. But many of my brothers and sisters who you snatched from that same land years ago have no such luck. You pillaged and raped the motherland of their bodies and souls, yet now claim to have discovered the error of your ways. With crocodile tears still wet on your cheeks you urge them to get over it and move on already.
“Let bygones be bygones,” you declare. “After all, you’re free now.”
However rather than truly repent and reform, like a cunning unfaithful lover you’ve simply learned to better disguise your cheating ways. You cleverly rebranded segregation by purposefully neglecting to funnel much-needed investments into the neighborhoods and schools conveniently dominated by those citizens of a certain hue. You devised a ‘war on drugs’ and coined phrases like ‘super-predators’ to create laws that empower your so-called justice system to profit off of discarding young Black men in prisons by the millions and throwing away the key. You preach the self-help gospel yet systematically create economic barriers to Black entrepreneurs and ensure that the glass ceiling is sealed tight for minorities.
Yet your most ingenious (despicable) act has to be the delusion of ‘equal rights for all’ you have concocted by repeating it into oblivion and convincing the masses that it is fact.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
You stitched these words into the heart of your Declaration of Independence, but how can they be true? How can you dare to utter unalienable rights and life in the same sentence when Black lives are repeatedly snuffed out with no consequence? How can you hang your identity on the principle of liberty when there are more African Americans in prison, on probation or on parole today than were enslaved in 1850? How can the pursuit of happiness ever hope to factor into the equation of a Black life that is constantly reminded of its meager worth at the lowest rung of your societies?
I suppose there may never be a response to this letter, but nevertheless I felt I had to let you know that I see you. We see you. Your masterful deception has finally been dragged into the light. You will no longer be allowed to masquerade in the shadows with your double standards and half truths. The time has come for you to stare yourself squarely in the mirror with no more lies and excuses, and decide the way you want the history books to remember you. Safe haven or crippling cage? Leader or tyrant? Liberator or oppressor? It is time for you to decide.
I hope and pray, for all our sakes, that you make the right choice.
Sincerely,
Christine K. (African Immigrant, Black Female, Ally, and Friend)
The original post was published on christinekwrites.com .
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