COLUMN: We need to work together to improve our country
In 1858 a U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois made a speech at that year’s Republican State Convention addressing the debate over whether or not slavery should remain legal in our country. He was quoting Jesus when he said that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” He did not believe that it was viable for a country to remain united when half the country accepted the morality of human bondage and the other half disagreed.
Abraham Lincoln lost the Senate race that year, but the speech gained him notoriety on a national level. When it came time to elect a President to lead the country through the Civil War, it was Lincoln that the nation called on to keep the house standing.
He led the Union to victory in that conflict and oversaw the end of slavery of course, but winning the war did not really end the conflict nor did it truly unite the country. His assassination at the hands of an angry Son of the South would be followed the disastrous attempt at “reconstruction” in the South, the rise of the KKK, lynchings, “Jim Crow” laws, and decades of segregation. Our house has continued standing, but it has always been on shaky ground.
That racial fault line that runs through our country got stepped on hard these last few weeks as video recordings of black folks being executed by white policemen and other “concerned citizens” led to demonstrations that turned violent in some big cities. Large gatherings prompted by outrage have a tendency to do that.
Unfortunately we do not have an intelligent, humble man dedicated to preserving our union like Abe Lincoln leading the country today. Instead we are being “led” by an individual who cares only about himself and thrives on saying and doing things that only divide us further, consequences be damned.
Donald Trump is a lost cause and I agree with the governors, mayors, and other civic officials who have decided to ignore him and lead the country through this trying period without any support from the man in the White House. Change always starts close to home anyway.
Speaking of which, I was encouraged by the well-attended and peaceful protest march in Macon this week. One of the major themes stressed by speakers at this march (and I know it’s come up a lot at other demonstrations around the country) was the importance of voting as a way to effect change.
Clearly new leadership in Washington would be helpful, but as a speaker pointed out at the Macon march other positions such as Police Chief and District Attorney are also chosen by voters and have great impact on the relationship between law enforcement and the local community. Voter registration forms were handed out, and I hope people fill them out and turn out to vote later this year.
It’s time to stop pretending that a lack of diversity in positions of authority in our communities is not a problem. Our perspectives and our biases are deeply affected by things like race, gender, and sexual orientation, and it is not healthy to have one demographic hold a virtual monopoly on positions of authority in a diverse society like ours.
Fortunately achieving diversity is a real possibility, and we know how to get there. We need people from all walks of life running for office and we all need to vote. Clearly we also need police departments to make a concerted effort to recruit and train officers from every ethnic background represented in the communities that they serve and protect.
These are trying times, and it seems like the difficulties just keep piling up on us. But conflict and tragedy can inspire positive change. Sometimes it’s the only thing that can.
We now have a choice to make. We can continue to respond to violence with more violence or we can take the much more difficult path of working together to make this a better place to live, for all of us.
Bill Ferguson is a resident of Warner Robins. Readers can write him at fergcolumn@hotmail.com.