To all who are downcast with the current turn of events in our national saga, to all who fear hope is lost, a few quiet words of encouragement.
To give up and give in is not in the American character. Over the course of a long life, I have seen unexpected leaders rise up and movements succeed against the odds. Our nation has repeatedly experienced many dark days and entire chapters of despair. And yet the American story has continued, and I would say, in the main, become a tale of increased freedom, justice, and decency.
Before succumbing to discouragement or defeat, I ask:
Did you winter at Valley Forge?
Did you salute Lincoln’s funeral train?
Did you attend Kennedy’s interment at Arlington?
Were you on the balcony in Memphis?
Did you hear the bombs at Pearl Harbor?
Or face the guns at Normandy?
Or walk a patrol through the jungles of Vietnam?
Was your voice silenced, your vote denied and your appeals for justice ignored on account of your gender?
Did you shelter with Harriet Tubman?
Did you see a mother sold down the river and away from her children?
Were you in the streets at Stonewall?
Or on the bridge in Selma?
Were you a loyal American interned in camps during World War II?
Did you walk the Trail of Tears?
Did you lose your farm in the dustbowl?
Were you beaten on the picket line?
Was your book banned?
Did you feel the bite of the police dogs in Birmingham?
Or did you lose everything in the Great Depression?
Were you labeled guilty as a Communist due to your associations?
Were you barred from college by a gentleman’s agreement?
Were you denied due process?
Were you stopped by police on account of your race?
Were you separated from your children at the border?
Is your voting district gerrymandered?
Is your water contaminated?
There are so many questions from the past and the present. For many of you, the answers to some of the questions above are yes. Others face different challenges. But in every case, the American story is one of people rising up and saying some version of, ”.” And then–not just saying the words but turning the mantra into action.
Today, many Americans face the choice of “fight or flight” in the political arena– and face the choice on many other fronts — but all towards one goal… a more perfect union..