The passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent Civil Rights laws passed, such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, laws fought for as a response to the aforementioned American Apartheid, seemed to come as an answer to a prayer to young disenfranchised African Americans. But throughout the second half of the 20th century, it was clear that the resentment for Black Americans from the White American mainstream was still alive and well and baked into the American way of life. These civil rights that paved the way for the integration of Black America into the emerging middle class of post WWII America were not welcomed by what Ronald Reagan would term “the Silent Majority”. A demographic of Americans who looked back fondly on a time where they didn’t have to compete with a once subjugated class of people. These “Bribes” that were designed to inch Black American progress forward toward equality and equity acted as scape goats to a sort of “light hearted” discrimination in which White Americans could point to as reasons for Black America to stop complaining. All the while, resentment continued to build amongst a large share of Americans who felt left out themselves, and overshadowed by the seeming focus on the progression and protection of minorities by the United States government. This resentment exists as an American shadow. We, as a republic, do not like to acknowledge its presence. But the more we ignore it, the more it grows
The election of President Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of American was the ultimate bribe. Many Americans understood the Obama Era as a post-racial American society. White liberals of the Obama Era might have been quick to assume that American racism was on its way out. But just as sure as liberals were that American racism was turning its head to tolerance and acceptance, the silent majority ever present in American society were growing convinced that their rights were being infringed upon and/or neglected. The shadow continued to grow.
The ultimate slap in the face to the Silent Majority was a two term Black, multi-cultured in heritage, American president. The shadow grew, and a monster reared its head in the form of a White Nationalist figure who could speak to and channel the sentiment of a large populist of Americans who felt that the America they knew was no longer working for them and was in favor of the growing minority-majority. A predictable American response to this insult of White America was a congress dedicated to the obstruction of American progress, the emergence of a conservative movement focused on maintaining the status-quo (also known as The Tea Party), and a 45th President that would champion the squashing of minority rights. The end of the Barack Obama Era in American history, ushered in a new era of uncertainty about the future of a United States of America.
In this moment of American history, we stand at another crossroads similar to that of where we were in 1868 and 1964. After the election of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and his multi-cultured and co-ed administration, the shadow still looms and the Silent Majority has been granted a megaphone. An American insurrection by an undeniably large group of those who no longer believe in the sanctity of the American electoral process, a Democratic Liberal party attempting and failing to reorient themselves in the post-Obama era, a Republican Conservative party in shambles over what the “truth” is, a movement within the judicial and legislative branches of the United States government to silence facts, the resistance to a revisionist American history that would attempt to include the rightful place of the Black American story into general American history, the silencing of civic discussions that make White Americans uncomfortable, and a movement towards an autocratic American government not based in the rule-of-law has made possible the reality of an America that is no longer United. Vice President Kamala Harris, another mixed heritage bribe, may not have been enough to drown out the shouts of Black America and the soft embrace of Joe Biden’s “folks” may not be a strong enough repudiation to stop the ushering in of the 1st American dictator.
Our shadows grow strength in the darkness. If we ignore them and leave them idle they will grow to conquer. We’ve thrown dirt over our skeletons and grown gardens on top of their graves, but the souls of those unmarked graves in American history have not been laid to rest and so they will continue to haunt our present until we acknowledge their sacrifices and contributions to this nation. Grappling with and acknowledging our shadows is hard work. We don’t like to look back. We always talk about progress and we never apologize for our grievances. We always push forward. But our shadow always looms behind us. In the dark void of ignorance, as we continue to choose to not acknowledge and plead the 5th, our shadows become who we are. A wise American once stated “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; Only light can do that”. If we continue to fail to cast a light on our shadows they will continue to follow us as we move forward. I believe, we, as a nation can no longer afford to choose ignorance because, as we know, democracy dies in darkness.