JUNE 6, 2020 – On the way to our cabin recently, we saw a huge, road-side sign that read, “HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.” Honestly, the sign didn’t remind me of today–the anniversary of D-Day, start of the Allied invasion of Normandy to drive Hitler’s Wehrmacht back to Germany; an operation that defined bravery in the cause of freedom. Instead, the sign reminded me our military nonsense in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention Vietnam, where many brave Americans sacrificed much but with no connection to our “freedom.”
Against the backdrop of a chaotic week back in the cities following the murder of George Floyd, “Home of the Free Because of the Brave” made me think of brave blacks who’ve fought in all our wars. What of their freedom?
As we drove deeper into “Home of the Free . . .” territory, I thought about the great awakening across America in the wake of George Floyd’s death; white America’s belated acknowledgment of the persistent, pervasive discrimination that exists in this country. But is it a “great awakening” or is it the Fort Sumter of our era? In watching FoxNews and talking with Trump supporters, I’m not sure we’ve entered a period of long over-due enlightenment. After all, I sing to my own little choir—a neighborhood in which “Black Lives Matter” signs have sprouted like dandelions.
I worry.
Yesterday I spoke by phone with a Trump supporter who was focused on looting. “I watched all the TV coverage of the protests,” he said, “and I kept flipping back and forth on channels. I saw all kinds of people demonstrating—white people, black people, Latino people, Asian people—but when I saw the looting I saw only black people. I stayed up late looking for other people looting. I wanted to see that not just black people were looting, but nope! All I saw were black people—only blacks. They were hauling out TVs, clothing, whatever they could get their hands on. Now, that’s just plain wrong!”
In response I said, “Not to excuse looting, but if you’re correct—and I’m not sure you are, because you saw only what TV cameras were showing you, but let’s just say you are—have you thought about why only blacks would be looting? Could it be because they are the most underprivileged when it comes to owning ‘stuff’ and having the prospect of ever buying it?”
“I don’t know how you can excuse the looting,” he said.
“I’m not excusing it,” I said. “I’m trying to explain it. There’s a difference between excusing and explaining. If you stop at whether a given behavior should be excused or not excused, you’ll never understand the underlying causes and circumstances. You’ll never move beyond treatment of symptoms, because you’ll never address the disease itself—in this case, systemic, intergenerational discrimination.”
And until we do, America will not be “free,” no matter how brave our soldiers be.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
