The Meaning of America

February 7, 2022

Friends

From the movie “Lincoln”:

Thaddeus Stevens: “Oh, how you have longed to say that to me. You claim you trust them, but you know what the people are. You know that the inner compass that should direct the soul toward justice has ossified in white men and women, North and South, unto utter uselessness through tolerating the evil of slavery. White people cannot bear the thought of sharing this country’s infinite abundance with Negroes.”

Doesn’t the Thaddeus Steven’s line from the fight to end slavery, equally define this very moment in our history?

Could we not say of today’s White America that we still know what the people are? Hasn’t the inner compass that should direct the soul toward justice ossified in today’s angry white men and women, North and South, unto utter uselessness through tolerating the evil of racism. Is it not simply that many White people cannot bear the thought of sharing this country’s infinite abundance and power with Minorities?

Isn’t this why we are where we are?

Robb Fickman, Houston