In the United States, Black Americans have for long put our faith in a better, respected life coming in the U.S. based on three things: the Black church, strong public education, and the U.S. Constitution.
Lately, all three seem to be roiling simultaneously. Too much of the Black Church seems to be focusing on prima donna ministers and simply maintaining a viable church space in competition with computerized and televised services. Seemingly long gone are the daily reminders of the power of prayer and the hallowed place of the Black church in our lives and our struggles.
The public education of young Black Americans in this country has lately gotten to be beside the point. The kids are already competing for how to make money from the Internet by 3rd or 4th grade. Who has time to actually study reading, writing, and arithmetic, and who is benefited by these anyway? When I was in grade school, daily after the pledge of allegiance was broadcast and dutifully recited by schoolmates and teachers, all of my classmates and I sang along with the soulful notes of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (the Black national anthem) before we got down to the schoolwork at hand.
This was our daily reminder to keep lifting ourselves up and to do something meaningful with our lives in order to make it better for us all.
Where, if anywhere, is that happening now? We have put our faith in the logical clarities of American law—brought out and clarified through public protest—and the taught faith in the American system, which we were sure –and assured–would eventually work well for us all.
Today, however, we’ve just been reminded again not to believe in fairy tales. Sometimes we are all one, and sometimes things actually do work out for decent people. But more usually, the crooked, corrupt, and more sinister among us win and steal as much as can be taken as the rest of us wait on justice to prevail. The good guys—and girls—don’t always win in the end.
We’ve put our trust, people, in a system that is often neither fair nor caring. The Supreme Court just issued a new ruling that essentially said we’ve been had. We were taught to wait our turn. Things like justice for all, nearly even chances for all, etc., were real and destined. But that was and is a lie here. The rich, the powerful, the well-heeled, etc.—they make out, they succeed, they achieve or are gifted the American dream. The rest of us will be treated as we are valued—as cannon fodder. The haves will be maintained, and the have-nots get to cannibalize themselves over who survives for the crumbs.
Is this really all there is? Will the hopes of the slaves, the assumptions of the poor that things will get better, and the studied determination of each generation all be due to be disappointed?
Can America—this country of ours—really live up to its own creed, or will the crooks, the corrupt, and the outlaws always win?
As we ponder the latest rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court and the daily perfidy of the Trump administration, is hope still alive? Is equality in America ever to be more than mere slogans and song lyrics?
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.