best, worst of times

We celebrated, congratulated ourselves when we elected to the office of president a man of color, a black man. America, many of us said had transcended our bias, our bigotry America looked beyond the color of skin and was able to find the color of intelligence, fairness, quality and smart. How proud we were! But almost as fast as our pride shone in the sun, a dark demonizing, dreadful persona appeared and suddenly for every step forward taken were driven back tenfold. 

Since the election of President Barack Obama we have witnessed a rival of Jim Crow laws, voting rights infringement, ignorance on immigration, disrespect for the office of president, a nostalgia for the Confederacy and an increase of intimidating, harassing and shooting people while living their life black. Open season on black people has been called and the call has grown louder with the successful democratic election of President Obama for his second term.

Guns, abridging the Bible, activist justices, a news station prone to insist that fear holds all the facts, conservative pundits and entertainment personalities all prone to incite riot before reason have led a cunning and calculated way forward to divide and deny to promote bigotry. Voices like Ingraham, Huckabee, Hannity, Limbaugh, Cruz, Palin have become the mainstay of decimating information, with all of them singling out anyone who is not deemed American enough, Christian enough, not worthy enough. And all of these self described Patriots have permitted the continual acceptance that white is right and black is bad.And from this we get another black youth shot and killed.

The quote “It was the best of times it was the worst of times”, by Charles Dickens, in ‘Tale of Two Cities’ has taken on horrific meaning for this nation. America has become a nation suddenly not seeking the middle but feigning fortune in holding onto two extremes. Our divide grows deeper and our need for enemies stronger.  One more death of a black man and instead of figuring out why, we would rather take sides, blame, corrupt, and single out villains. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, but for America in 2014 time seems our time is running out.