LISTEN TO BLACK PEOPLE
How the least among us are UNSUNG BALANCERS of society
Whatever you have done/not done for the least of these, you have done/not done unto me. Those are the enduring words of none other than Jesus Christ. Though I’m not familiar with other religions, I imagine they hold a similar tenet. And even those not affiliated with any particular religion or faith but aim to be a good person and to do good, hold to this belief in some way, shape or form.
Who are the least among us? Jesus calls out those that are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick and in prison. In our modern times we consider the least among us to be marginalized. Here in the United States, I think it is fair to say that the least among us are those that suffer or have suffered from discrimination and harassment. As such we have enacted laws that afford legal protections for certain classes against discrimination and harassment. These protected classes include:
race
religion
national origin
age (40 and over)
sex (includes sexual orientation and gender identity)
pregnancy
familial status
disability status
veteran status
genetic information
This set of protected classes may not fully encompass all that may find themselves marginalized, even if for a brief period. But the history of hate and discrimination in the United States have clearly shown these classes to be the ones that, by design, have not been able to realize the promise of America because they are considered less than. While it is not my intention to rank or compare suffering, I do believe that those that suffered the most from America’s original sins are Native Americans, the enslaved and the descendants of the enslaved also known as African Americans.
Listen to Black People has been a clarion call as of late. To be fair, I would broaden it to all that are marginalized. While this “commandment” should be “obeyed,” I don’t think we understand why and that lack of understanding may very well be the reason many choose to “disobey” it. So here’s my attempt to break it all down.
As much as we like to proclaim that the United States does fairness, equity, and justice better than any other nation, we can’t pretend that our dark history has been defeated. In fact, that dark history is resurging. If we, as an electorate, don’t do the right thing in the upcoming general election, then our dark history will have its best opportunity to prove itself to be undefeated.
While the stakes seem to be sky high for the upcoming election, the stakes have always been high, especially for the least among us. Nothing about our progress has been happenstance or a seamless evolution towards our national ideals. The least among us have fought, in many cases to the death, to stop, as Dr. King says, the ongoing default of the promissory notes the architects of our republic magnificently wrote and signed called the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
In recent history the least among us, especially black people, have kept the United States from its worst instincts. The Congressional Black Caucus has long been considered the conscience of the Congress. Why?? Because just about everybody else defaults to forgetting about our dark history or giving the benefit of the doubt because they can’t possibly fathom anyone operating with the slightest hint of deviance. That the good in us will always prevail. Well the least among us knows our dark history a little too well. We can’t give the benefit of the doubt because we know beyond a shadow of doubt the oppression and malevolence our nation is capable of.
It amazes me how the non-marginalized are so readily detached from history. Years ago when I lived and worked in Virginia, our office decided to help some of our new hires become more acclimated with the area and arranged a visit to a historic landmark within walking distance, a nearby plantation. Don’t get too up in arms. A plantation is simply a sizable farm estate. No, I haven’t forgotten about what happened on plantations. In fact, because I remembered I considered not going but ultimately decided to go.
Of course I was the only black person. For the record, I must say I had one of the most harmonious work environments with that office. That’s one of the reasons I opted to go. BUT, as our tour guide led us through the museum, I couldn’t walk through in awe because George Washington and possibly Thomas Jefferson made a couple of visits there. I believe our guide saw the disgust on my face and made it a point to balance out her spiel with some facts about enslavement and the work the enslaved were commissioned to do on that specific plantation. While I know my colleagues listened intently, it was still beyond clear they could easily revert back to their pride in our storied history.
After the 2016 election, I remember watching MSNBC and I wish I could find the clip of this moment. Chris Matthews, Joy Reid and another contributor were debriefing about the election and the two white men were marveling at the victory as if it were a feat of genius worthy of reverent study. I stood there in disgust with the remote in my hand ready to change the channel. The only reason I did not change it was I wanted to hear what Joy had to say. Thankfully, Joy did not disappoint. She started her rebuke with I can’t believe what I am hearing and went on to snap them back into reality.
Most recently, some of the analysis of the testimony in New York v. Trump, was rather sympathetic to witnesses like Hope Hicks. She broke down crying on the stand and somehow those tears garnered pity instead of seen for what they truly were, a reluctance to tell the truth. I continued watching to see if anyone on these panels would reign this narrative in. Thankfully Katie Phang wasn’t having it.
"I don't have any sympathy for her and I will stand true with the idea that I don't know why she cried and I don't really care. She chose to go back to the Trump orbit. She was treated as family, she knew what he was all about in the public and private worlds of Donald Trump and she was subpoenaed to appear. "
"It is not like she volunteered to show up. So, in my opinion, you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. I mean there's nobody with clean hands in this. In my opinion, I don't think Hope Hicks deserves any sympathy."
Speaking of New York v. Trump, every one is singing Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg’s praises since his office made history in convicting the former president on all of the 34 felony counts they charged him with. Beforehand, the overwhelming narrative about this particular case was quite the critical one. What seems to elude the critic-turned-believer is the likes of AG James, DA Bragg, and DA Willis possess the intestinal fortitude to remind America again of the promissory notes written and signed by the architects of our republic nearly 250 years ago.
That intestinal fortitude didn’t appear out of thin air. It comes from a solemn duty to restore balance to America. A duty that can’t be shirked because of fear or favor. It’s not merely poetic justice that those leading the way in holding this lawless antagonizer accountable and brought to heel hail from the least among us. It’s actually quite predictable.
As much as the media narrative has hyped this moment, to my chagrin, as unprecedented, these moments are sadly not new to the least among us, as much as we wish they were. We simply cannot act like we don’t know what we know. And what the least among us knows rather acutely is America has never been far removed from its old ways. What we know is we’ve had to carry the unfair and thankless burden of steering our country towards its ideals time and time again. And for our own preservation, we simply can’t relieve ourselves of this burden. Definitely not now and at this rate, not ever.
Onward to bringing balance to America and Harmonious Balance, my friends!
Johanna
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