A volcano is one of nature’s most destructive events. Molten
rock is spewed into the air and solidifies as it makes its way down the slopes,
obliterating everything in its wake. The cloud of powdered rock produced by the
eruption at Mount St. Helens was catapulted 80,000 feet in the air, polluting
the world’s atmosphere, and changing the weather across the North American
continent—and beyond. Ashes from the explosion covered the land for hundreds of
miles. That eruption was thirty-five years ago, and you can still buy little
bottles of the ash in novelty stores.
But what was seen was only the result of events taking place
far below the surface. It was this boiling rock that finally found a weakened
place and broke through the earth’s crust.
Most events of any magnitude have been the result of what
goes on under the surface. Even our most gruesome episodes are little more than
the bubbling up of what lies far underground. When little children are
slaughtered in New Town or teenagers at Columbine High School, these are only
outcroppings—lava flows—the evidence of what has been boiling under a nation
where there are literally millions of firearms in circulation, and organizations
committed to see they remain uncontrolled. Simply put; the more guns in
civilian hands the more people will be killed with them.
Two eruptions a month ago, shocking in themselves, may be
evidences of the racial bigotry still boiling under the surface in America. Donald
Sterling continued his long-time diatribe against African Americans, even while
owning a mostly black NBA team. The league came down on him as hard as it
could, which is what he deserved. Cliven Bundy not only hates government, to
which he owes a bundle of money for illegally running his cattle on Federal
lands, but also believes African Americans were better off as slaves.
Then a year ago Phil Robertson, whose Duck Dynasty is not
only homophobic but also blatantly racist, generated considerable support every
time he or his crew made bigoted statements about somebody or some group.
And two years ago Trayvon Martin was stalked and killed for
no other reason than he was a black kid walking in the wrong place. And is our
historic memory so short we fail to recall that the solid Democratic south was
lured into Republican hands when Lyndon Johnson called for Civil Rights
legislation? That brave act generated Richard Nixon’s southern strategy built
on an unarticulated racist agenda.
The recent effort in a handful of conservative states to
limit voting is just another sign that racism remains alive and well, if mostly
under the surface.
When fans of these constituencies awoke to discover that the
nation had elected an African American as President, there was the dawning of
an unarticulated shock—under the surface. What we see in the above
illustrations may be only the volcanic explosions of an hostility that
continues to infect America.
Clearly the nation has made enormous progress in dealing
with its sordid history of racial bigotry. But all of these events—those a
generation old and, those in last month’s news—reveal the subterranean
existence of a hardened racial hostility.
What may be increasingly apparent is the racism that may
still lie undetected in so many of us. As do others I know, I believe I have
long since been free of any racial bigotry—and then I get reminded of some
subtle insidious personal action or attitude that I may not have seen as a form
of racism, but may well fit that designation. Not only do we need to identify
what occasionally goes on in our society, but perhaps we need to continually
examine our own inner motives and actions. At least that is my intention.
A personal note. Again
this year I am taking a few weeks off from offering these columns and essays.
Wendy and I have a grandson’s wedding to attend, and then it is off to Europe
for a while. See you again sometime in July.
Charles Bayer
No comments:
Post a Comment