Has the US reached the twilight of its existence?
I remember back in November of 2008, after being an avid supporter of Obama, I was proud and moved to tears, when he won the 2008 Presidential election. It was incredible. You know in the black community, people had been saying for years, that maybe one day there would be a black president, but not in their lifetime. I was I agreement. So when Obama was elected, it was monumental in my mind. Not even considering what kind of president he would be, it was just beyond imagining that this country would come together, and make history; but it did.
Let’s fast forward nine years. A lot has happened to me and the country in that time. I have learned more about the nature and fabric of this country and the people who live in it. I have learned more about the political system that governs this country and those so called leaders who supposedly represent us. I have numerous cause to reflect on the many basic ideas from my high school civics class, like the system of ‘checks and balances’, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’, and let us not forget the ever elusive American Dream. I have realized that the deceptive and bumbling antics of the Bush Administration set the stage for one of the most, game-changing elections in history. Everyone was damn angry and sick of the fear mongering, pandering to the rich and then the decimation of the least of us, when the economy tanked. We had little recourse. We had to completely change gears, and move towards hope and change. We thought we did, but we didn’t. It started immediately. The seedy underbelly of this country and of the democratic process revealed itself with stunning clarity. Despite the numbers that turned out to elect Obama, due to the grassroots campaign that reached out to the young, the tech savvy and the economically disenfranchises, other of us wept… Cried tears of despair for their beloved country had been lost. What had the United States become? It elected a black man as president. It was the public re-emergence of the institutionalized, indoctrinated and systemic racism that has been here, yet incognito, since the civil rights success of the 60s and 70s, and the seemingly well-earned equality of the 80s. There were the gorilla memes, the monkey posters, punching bags in the president’s likeness, citizens coming to events armed with no repercussions. Insults and verbal assaults to…
