There is no denial that the U. S. has changed for the better in terms of racial relations since the Selma March 50 years ago when blacks were tear gassed, beaten with bully clubs, bitten by dogs while some lost their lives fighting for the right to vote. For those who deny that racial change has occurred in 50 years, listen and speak with Congressman John Lewis as he challenges those to walk in his shoes over the last 50 years. There is a difference between racial change and racial harmony as the “post racial” word suggests. I first heard the term post racial when President Obama was first elected in 2008. And even before his election, there were clear signs that while America would elect an African American president after the failed Bush years, they would not always respect him on account of the color of his skin. The racially polarizing politics of the country since President Obama’s first election have made it possible for many Americans to express publicly their … [Read more...] about America is so Post Racial Since Selma that it Hurts
Selma
Selma 50 Years: Then and Now
As this weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma March, which culminated in the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the focus was on the past in contrast with the present and future. Congressman John Lewis, who was once beaten and jailed 50 years ago while marching and fighting for civil rights and voting rights for African Americans on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, returned walking alongside of President Obama on Saturday. While some African Americans and others complain that race relations have deteriorated and not changed, they only need look to or speak with John Lewis and those individuals who 50 years ago risked their lives, endured indignities, beatings, even death, tear gas, and multiple times in jail to know that things have changed in America. We are far from a perfect union. The gap is not as wide as it was 50 years ago when it was unimaginable that a black man could become President or Attorney General. But the gap still persists. As history … [Read more...] about Selma 50 Years: Then and Now