Sadly, and I hate admitting this, it has taken the presidency of Barack Obama to realize how deeply and unashamedly racist the United States of America is. One hundred and fifty years after the country was torn apart in a civil war over the issue of race (and let's stop kidding ourselves; that was the issue), that issue still have the power to produce a level of hatred that a 21st-century nation should respond to with nothing but a deep sense of shame.
But, once again, this is the United States of America. Racism was embedded in the drafting of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. So perhaps its persistence should not be so surprising. For most of the past one hundred and fifty years, however, its defeat in the civil war has ashamed its adherents into expressing their feelings as a hate that dare not speak its name. Instead, it's been cloaked in code words: "states' rights," "tradition," "heritage," and so on. Hard to imagine that paleness could inspire so much duplicity, isn't it?
And then, along came Barack Obama. Oh, to be sure, everybody said all the right things. We had finally lived up to our better angels, we told ourselves. We convinced ourselves, for a time, that America had entered a "post-racial phase." It didn't take long, however, for that fantasy to fall apart. In fact, all it took was a silly non-controversy controversy over the President's place of birth. No matter how many times this question was put to rest, someone in the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy would resurrect it, and the corporate media, fearful of choosing the truth over ratings, followed along. And with that, the "post-racial" narrative began to die a slow and painful death.
In fact, after this week, I think we can declare it officially dead. That's because, on the eve of ceremonies to observe the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma, a landmark moment in the civil rights movement, some idiot had both the hatred and stupidity to put up this within a short distance of the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, which played a key role in the march.
And, unsurprisingly, the person behind the billboard is using history as a defense. One wonders if that extends to the charming quote: "Keep the skeer on 'em." Even with the mispronunciation of "scare" (and what is it with bigots and the English language), we know perfectly well who's being referred to with the word "'em." And note that this was done with the knowledge that the President would be there, as part of the commemoration. Is he supposed to be "skeered"?
Clearly, the erection of this billboard ends any pretense about what motivates the President's opponents. But Barack Obama will not be president forever; in fact, there are now less than two years in his administration. It's entirely fair to wonder how the Obama-era coarsening of our political and cultural dialogue will poison our way going forward. Now that bigots no longer need to hide, and the Republican Party has staked its future on these bigots, the hatred isn't going to go away. Conservatives live for pumping up the volume; it's all they really know how to do. They don't reason; they bludgeon. And now, more than ever, they know they can do it in the open.
Will those of us on the side of truth, justice and the American Way (to say nothing of tolerance) find the resources to successfully fight back? Will another Civil War be required? And, even if such a war breaks out, will even that succeed in bringing everyone together at last as one nation, with everyone free and equal?
I'm not an optimist on this front. But I'm also not a quitter. I know that there could be a future worth fighting for, just like the Selma marchers did. And, for the sake of what this country can be, we need to keep faith with them and their sacrifices. We need to find ways to make the Nathan Bedford Forrests, and their "admirers," disappear into history books, and never poison the landscape again. No matter how bad it gets, we must push back. Progress isn't inevitable, and neither is chaos. The choice, as always, is ours.
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