I’m among those who regard our country as being in crisis.
For one, we face the constant threat of terrorism. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the conduct of its occupation led directly to the rise of a powerful, nihilistic fighting force, which falsely claims to act in the name of Islam.
It is as if America’s “shock and awe” has been turned inside out. Factions inspired to organize during that conflict have, ever since, recruited assorted dissidents as fighters, acquired territory and oil revenue and now present an even more potent threat to the world than Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida did two decades ago.
In addition to terrorism, mass shootings threaten our safety. Frequently, veterans are the perpetrators. It seems our nation’s engagement in permanent war and its related diet of war games and warfare entertainment fosters a more violent society.
Advanced surveillance and access to photographic devices have begun to document police violence against persons of color. Police killed over 100 unarmed blacks in 2015. From such annual statistics and historical data that show 3,446 black persons were lynched in this country, we know that such targeting of blacks only appears to be new.
The proliferation of guns, particularly of military-style weapons, is a part of the problem. The more serious element is our history of attitudes and practices of white supremacy.
White supremacy is deeply rooted in the factionalism among the founders of our republic. Those who considered slave labor essential to their economic fortunes held out against others who disapproved of the practice. This was the matchless crisis blocking agreement on the draft of our Constitution. The quarrel nearly prevented the newly free 13 colonies from uniting as the United States.
Ever since, our schools have sidestepped moral and ethical discussion of slavery and its powerful impact on our history. Classroom focus avoids discussion of how racism emerged as a national problem The schools center instead on historic political and legal decisions related to slavery and on committing these to memory.
The big moral question back then was: How could we justify holding human beings in bondage? The response our ancestors who supported and sought to profit from slavery came up with was the notion that black people were of an inferior race. Native Americans, in time, Chinese railroad laborers, the Irish, Italians and others were held in similar disrepute.
This, of course, was the same rationale Adolph Hitler used to annihilate Jews, Slavs and other groups during World War II.
The white supremacy rationale of 1789 still manifests deeply in 2016. It poisons thought, costs lives and denies long-oppressed human beings the opportunities they richly deserve.
Disagreement over trafficking and ownership of slaves so threatened colonial unity, our Constitution references the practice three times without ever calling its name. Slavery remained a rancorous national subject until, after more than 200 years, it was ended by civil war and abolition.
Freeing those long held as slaves presented a new problem. There had never been a multi-racial society. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln — the peacemaker with plans to reunite the nation and its diverse population — blocked success at creating a harmonious one. His successors wished to punish the rebels.
The South, bitter over its loss, basically turned its vengeance on the former slaves, making them its vassals and victims for another century. People with darker skin had to struggle — and still do — for their rights as citizens and for the equality and respect they deserve.
It is important to remember that slavery was the single most important factor enriching this nation. Slaves not only built the White House; their free labor enabled creation of the wealth of America.
That dissatisfaction with the Constitution yet to be ratified by the states obliged the first Congress to add 10 amendments. These provided freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly and due process. Contentious to this day is the second of these amendments. We must understand this expression of our right to bear arms had its origin and was specifically drafted for the purpose of arming militias to control rebellious slaves in our southern states.
Our ability to confront these crises of foreign and domestic threat, of permanent war, the proliferation of guns and of racism will not be swift or easy.
Powerful interests use the very machinery of government to block our path. Using such devices as closed primaries, superdelegates and deceitful rumors — not to mention tapping enormous sources of private interest money— our two political parties control every aspect of power and the electoral processes and take turns propelling the nation down self-serving, publicly unpopular paths.
This year, they have even provided two largely detested choices for the next presidency.
A recent Gallup poll rated both of these candidates 58 percent unfavorable.
Charlemont resident Carl Doerner is an author, historian, and independent video and print journalist. His next book, “Come to the Window,” a novel, will be released in the fall.