Can the Union Last?
As a teenager, I read a book about the future of United States. I do not recall the title, nor the author but one thing forever stuck in my mind. There was a map of the US divided into four colored areas. Each color representing a new state having been formed after the United States of America’s political implosion.
I was traumatized by the thought, and yet, back then I was not an American.
What could be an outcome for this Union in the present socio-political climate? Could it be undermined to a point of no return? How could this be?
When I first came in 1964, Kennedy had just been assassinated the previous year, the whole world was in shock. To this day, everyone remembers where they stood when it happened no matter the country they were in at the time, so deep was this worldwide psychological impact of that fateful event. An impact due to the perception of this country most of the rest of the world had back then. The word ‘magnanimous’ is the one to first come to mind, followed by generosity. Unfortunately, all these possible qualificatives also engender antonyms as Mao Zedong wrote in his little book of “contradictions’.
The assassination happened in a Southern state. Immediately, conspiracy theories abounded. A sentiment of distrust amongst Americans, although united in grief, begun to take place. Lyndon Johnson took over the government’s reins.
Since, I did not speak English, I could not participate in discussions about the government, nor was I much interested. I was too busy trying to survive and make a life for myself, being a waiter at the World’s Fair. However, upon arrival in the country I had registered as a Democrat. Democrats where at the White House and Johnson was talking a big game as he was preparing his Great Society project, declaring his ‘War on poverty’. At the same time racial disturbances were taking place in the South and it remained to be seen if whether or not, LBJ was really interested on fighting war on poverty for all Americans.
At the time I had an overall feeling that Democrats were the ‘Good Ones’ and the Republicans were the ‘Villains’. So, as a recent immigrant, I was thrilled with LBJ social stances although someone who was not a Democrat had translated for me something a New York Senator had said:
” American Negroes, he added, now have expectations that “will go beyond civil rights…. They will now expect that in the near future equal opportunities for them as a group will produce roughly equal results, as compared with other groups.” But, Moynihan wrote, “This is not going to happen. Nor will it happen for generations to come unless a new and special effort is made.”
What that person said to me sounded more or less like; “I don’t know what he means by - A new and special effort is made -. We should all be equal, period! “ I agreed. As a Frenchman from North Africa, I had never seen black people treated like what I saw in New York.
But, life is not static and as the sayings go “Tomorrow is another day” and “people can change”.
I always had a strong penchant for history and as a kid never read a single comic book. My lecture was always either History books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Naturally, as a birth related mystery loomed over my life, which I was trying to solve, I would read everything which had to do with this country, so, first I read about its formation and founding as I loved the term “Founding Fathers”. Needless to say, this book I had read years earlier about the Great American Implosion had left a mark on me and in 1964 I was still concerned about that possible outcome for the country, although, then I deemed it impossible.
The Founding Fathers had a particular vision for what they wanted and what had the country to become. It had to be a strong federal power all the while respecting those of each state. Quite a task. But they were Anglos and English people have a knack for embroidery. Most of these people where here by choice as for the most part had left decent living back in England. Their predecessors, even the ones who had left religious persecution, were not necessarily the downtrodden. To think of forming a country involved to deal not only with large issues of war and internal relations but also more regional ones, down to local issues. They also had to involve social issues as well as the rights each segment of society were to have and be granted plus protected. They were extremely successful in that endeavor except for the fact that in the grandiose plan of forming a nation out of a mosaic of recently formed States, Blacks and Natives were omitted.
Today such grand design would prove to be an impossible task to achieve in view of the cacophony of dissenting and downright negative opinions vomited each minute of every day on social platforms by people who otherwise would not have a voice.
The freedom for Blacks was then, just but ignored by the Founding Fathers and LBJ wanted to grant it to them or at least it appeared so as he wanted to solve this situation. For this he turned to Pat Moynihan, then Assistant Labor Secretary who declared: “The Negroes are asking for unequal treatment. More seriously, it may be that without unequal treatment, there is no way for them to achieve anything like equal status in the long run.”. Guilt ridden, paternalistic and if you ask me, insulting statement which later would spell disaster for the ones he and LBJ said they really wanted to help.
With the passing of time and years of observations, I can see that the effects of the War on Poverty probably had the opposite effect of what their initial intentions were. However, today I still question those ‘Goodwill’ intentions.
Back to the plausible American Implosion, I will finish this chapter by asking the following: “Are Black Americans and now Latinos, pursue separate destinies as that of the Whites?”
They could if present trends to divide American people by race continue and if bonds of care for each other are not developed rather than fake legal Band-Aid declarations proposed by so called well-intentioned politicians.
……. To be continued