by Ruth A. Sheets
It is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States of America and the nation declares its reverence for Dr. King once more. The irony is that only 12 days ago, white supremacists decided to attempt to take over our government on behalf of “White America.” That, of course is completely antithetical to everything Dr. King stood for, but when a group of people is living a lie, it is hard to present any kind of reasonable argument they can hear.
A book and article I read this weekend point out that people choose to live within lies. The best part for them, they don’t even need to acknowledge that the lie has such an important role in their lives because the lie is so ubiquitous and often the origin is lost or has been misidentified.
The article I read is “Why Democrats Keep Losing Rural Counties Like Mine” by Bill Hogseth, December 1, 2020 in politico.com. The Book is Red Summer, The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America by Cameron MCWhirter. At first glance, it might seem these writings have nothing in common, but I suspect that with a little thought you can see that both are about one group and its incessant need for priority, even supremacy.
In the politico article, rural Wisconsinites can’t seem to vote for Democrats any more because Democrats didn’t give them everything they felt and feel entitled to. They jumped on the Trump train because his lies fed into their big lie. Whatever has happened to them was caused by someone else, in particular the elites with the subtext, Blacks, immigrants, and others who just don’t understand them.
The book presented the events of 1919 when white mobs all over America did their very best to inflict as much harm and fear as they could on Black citizens. Why? They believed Black people were just getting too uppity. They were taking what white men were led to believe was their birthright. Whites joined in killing-mobs because there is safety in numbers and one is less likely to be held accountable. But really, the accountability they wanted was with their friends and neighbors who saw their brave stand against those awful people who are trying to usurp white power. And, they knew they had the “law” with them.
The difference between the rural whites of 1919 and those of the 21st century is degree. Now, white Americans don’t have to do harm to Black Americans in person, they just have to vote for and support a racist president and his entourage who would take care of those pesky folks who get every advantage while the rural white people are in their rural county suffering. The lie is still the same. White people deserve the best of everything and Black Americans deserve only what is left over.
Few white people would actually say that out loud and most probably try hard not to think that, but it is buried deep in the white American psyche.
It was no accident that I never learned about the white mob violence of 1919 and again the destruction of Tulsa’s Black community two years later. We white students were expected to believe that Black people were often poor because of their own actions, laziness, and lack of motivation related to education. We were fed the lie that the American civil war was about “states’ rights” and slavery was just a side issue. Slavery was pretty good; slaves were fed and clothed for their work.
There are many who still believe the lie and continue to incorporate it in their actions. We saw the result again on January 6, 2021. The mobsters of that date were avowed white supremacists but if asked, they could not identify any ways they are actually superior to Black people or other persons of color. They don’t have to defend their stand because they just know they’re superior. They just know they deserve whatever they want. If they say they won an election they clearly lost, they can righteously take over anyway.
The rural voters of Wisconsin knew exactly what Donald Trump was, yet voted for him anyway. It means they still maintain the lie and will likely pass it on to their children into the future. It is comfortable to think/believe you are right and those others are wrong or irrelevant. If you have a bunch of like-minded residents of the lie, you can do almost anything and be furious if someone wants to hold you accountable for it as the attackers of our Capitol may be. The mob participants paid no price in 1919 for the hundreds of lynchings and murders they perpetrated. because the lie was far more pervasive then. Even the governments supported their actions and officials often participated.
Lies can feel good if they reenforce what we already think or want to believe about ourselves and our place in the world. However, lies are destructive. They keep us from seeing who we really are and what we can positively contribute to our communities, our nation, and humanity. Lies let us hide behind walls that divide and don’t really protect.
The big lies are also an attempt to shield us from being afraid, but they actually make people more afraid. The lie can promote fear of us in others which could put us at risk in the future (or we think that’s what could happen).
Dr. King and so many others have called out the lie. He directed our attention to systemic racism which kept Black Americans from fair housing and good jobs. He showed how war disproportionately impacts poor people and people of color. That was clear in 1919 too, when Black soldiers were not accorded the same respect as white soldiers.
Dr. King pointed out that the criminal justice system is inherently unjust for Black citizens, perhaps only a little better today than in 1919.
The citizens of the rural counties of Wisconsin know of Dr. King and probably invoke his name at this time of year (if they don’t actually resent him). They have at least heard the “I Have A Dream” section of Dr. King’s most famous speech, but have they considered why Dr. King would have had to hold these ideas as a dream? If they think it through they might see that it was a dream because it was so far from reality at the time King described it. I can’t help but wonder what their dream is for their children. Is it similar to Dr. King’s or the same as the dream of Mr. Trump and his supporters, power over rather than power to do good.
There were white people who stood up for Black citizens back in 1919 but not enough. There are more white citizens demanding rights for Black people today, but not enough. Too many of us still live with or in the lie. Maybe this Dr. King Day, we need to break out of the lie and live with the pain of the truth for a while. We need to hear how we can act on behalf of those whom white America has stomped down for generations. This could be the year when enough white people stand with Dr. King instead of just invoking his name.
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