Dear Editor,
The election of Joe Biden as the president of the United States of America (U.S.A) and the groundbreaking one of Kamala Harris as the first female Vice-President, the first known Vice- President of African, Indian and Caribbean descent, brought with it an overwhelming sense of optimism for the future of the country. The impending replacement of the incumbent, President Donald Trump was like a ray of sunshine after cloudiness and horrendous rainstorms.
The truth is that the U.S.A has for centuries upheld white, male entitlement and conspiracy theories. It is a country created through violence. The U.S.A. has been built on stolen land and stolen people. The paintings that were seen on the walls of the rotunda in the Capitol during the recent insurrection, display scenes of violence and conquest. Violence for the past few centuries has not been uncommon. The recent insurrection was not a first. Arms have been taken up before when losing an election. In 1861 when Lincoln was elected, a mob launched a civil war, as they were against a peaceful transfer of power. There were the anti- abolitionist riots in New York City in 1834. In the same year, mobsters set fire to an entire block in Philadelphia. Jim Crow laws were subsequently established as an exchange for electoral peace and black Americans were then subjected to a century of terror.
President Donald Trump is the purest representation of the American way. He is a sound example of the U.S.A’s worshipping of wealth over wisdom. If you have enough money, you are allowed to do anything. The acquisition of wealth or the attainment of status override morality. His supporters even desecrated the institution which upheld their conduct. They were able to storm the Capitol and hardly faced any opposition.
A noose was hung outside the Capitol and that could only have been as a reminder of the days of slavery. The Confederate flag being carried into the hallowed chambers of the Capitol was repugnant. In the aftermath of the violence, black people were the ones put to clean up the mess.
President-elect Biden and many senators said that what occurred on that day of infamy, did not reflect America and who Americans are. That sounded like a strategy of QAnon whereby if something is repeated often enough, people will eventually start to believe it is true.
There is possibly a solution. The U.S.A. needs to accept its flaws and stop whitewashing its inhumanity and violent tendencies. That will be the only way to forge ahead and make America great again. Not in Donald Trump’s way.
Faithfully,
Conrad Barrow
