“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know Is what we do not want to know.”

— Moral and social philosopher Eric Hoffer

 

One week, (or maybe three months) from now, U.S. voters or Congress will decide whether our democracy can carve a new way forward with Kamala Harris as our 47th president or slide into anarchy with Donald J. Trump and his base, which is blind to the Republican nominee’s endless stream of hateful vitriol. Will they Make America Great Again (MAGA), Trump style, or join me on the Harris ‘We’re not going back’ train and continue to build a more perfect Union?

I’ve jumped on the Harris express mainly because Black Americans of my Baby Boomer generation want all children and grandchildren of the world to know of the hatred and hardships we endured during the Jim Crow Era (1877-1968). We’re not going back! I see MAGA as a dog whistle in tune with Trump’s goal of returning white supremacy to U.S. shores. The Republican Party (GOP), which had been leaning in an anti-American direction for more than a decade, now walks in lockstep with Trump and his base. They are determined to retake the White House and Senate, using skullduggery and violence if necessary. They do this fully aware that Trump, the 45th president on Jan. 6, 2021, became the first president to lead an insurrection against  the Capitol while Congress was certifying the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden

Most of the Congress members, including Republicans, cowered in fear and fled for their lives as thousands of Trump’s followers attacked Capitol policemen, then broke down doors to the Capitol to temporarily stop Congress’ election certification process. Two policemen and one rioter were killed, and the lives of former Vice-President Mike Pence and former Speaker of the Houser Nancy Pelosi were threatened.  Two months later, Trump lied to Fox News, describing the incident as a harmless venture. “It was zero threat right from the start,” Trump said. “Some of them went in …  hugging and kissing the police and guards … a lot of people were waved in … and then they walked out.”

Harry Dunn, a Black Capitol policeman, provided ABC News with a participant’s perspective of the insurrection. “One woman was wearing a pink MAGA hat,” Dunn said. “They beat officers with Blue Lives Matter flags. They had Confederate flags in the U.S. Capitol! Is this America? I got angry. I got sad. I got hurt. We are giving so much and putting our lives on the line to protect democracy. We were called racial slurs, traitors … I didn’t wake up that morning and want to be called a nigger. I didn’t bring race into it. I just wanted to do my job.”

Trump’s insurrection, which was the second ever on U.S. soil, fell short. The nation’s first insurrection in Wilmington, N.C., in 1898, did not. A 2,000-strong white mob overthrew its legitimately elected local government, a coalition of Black Republicans and white Fusionists, who sought free education, debt relief and equal rights for its black citizens.

The mob killed several black men in the city’s upscale Brooklyn neighborhood, set fire to the Wilmington Record, a black-owned newspaper, then posed for pictures in front of the charred building. In the aftermath, more than 2,000 Black Americans left the city permanently. Glenda Gilmore, a Yale University professor told the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), “They (Blacks) were going to universities, had rising literary rates and had rising property ownership.”

Historian David S. Cecelski told Atlantic magazine, “They burned down black newspapers all over the state. They shut down entry to the city from Blacks and Republicans. It’s important not to forget that this was a planned thing. … This history was totally hidden from white children. And that was deliberate.” More than 300 people were killed, 800 injured and 60 Black-owned businesses were destroyed during the Tulsa, Okla. race riots of 1921 when white mobs burned and looted the flourishing business district known as Black Wall Street. The rational for these U.S. massacres might be found in this quote by social critic and philosopher Eric Hoffer: “When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom – freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse.”

Newspapers, magazines, radio or Hollywood movie studios provided their audiences with occasional glimpses of hangings, house fires, impoverished conditions and racial hatred Blacks endured during Jim Crow. Today, the favoritism that Fox News’ shows toward Trump, and the decisions by The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times not to publish endorsements of Harris in their newspapers raise serious media ethics issues.

The teachers, administrators and coaches who influenced and guided their students during my secondary school years (1948-60) in Hampton, Va. excelled despite the racial barriers.  Many of them were high achievers, Black strivers, smart people who were denied the chance to be considered for better opportunities, better jobs because of the color of their skin. Still, our Black unsung heroes and heroines pushed on, motivated by the belief that the doors closed to them would be open to us when we became adults.

I became acquainted with Hoffer’s work as a Hampton University student (1960-64), with a minor in philosophy. I’ve used his famous quotes in several stories (and one book) over the years.  Hoffer was a longshoreman and migrant worker most of his early adult life. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1982, the year before he died. Born in New York City (1898), Hoffer wrote 10 books, including the widely acclaimed ‘The True Believer’ (1951). Hoffer was partially blind between the ages of 7-15. Though Hoffer had no formal schooling, he became an adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964.

Even in death, Hoffer speaks from the grave with this quote that we should ponder in 2024 as the nation prepares to elect its 47th president.  “I can never forget that one of the most gifted, best educated nations in the world, of its own free will, surrendered its fate into the hands of a maniac.”