"Only
by acknowledging the full extent of slavery's grip on U.S. society--its
intimate connections to present day wealth and power, the depth of its
injury to millions of black Americans, the shocking nearness in time of
its true end--can we reconcile the paradoxes of current American life."- Douglas A. Blackmon
Not wishing to cause
anyone unease I would, nevertheless, recommend that the words above,
humbly mooched from Mr. Blackmon's wrenchingly beautiful and important
Pulitzer awarded book, "Slavery by Another Name- The Re-Enslavement of
Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II", be used as a sort
of qualifier, a preface if you will, or as a permanent motto like "All
the News That Fits" sits on the masthead of the NYTimes; be programmed
on each and every desktop of every computer and tablet and smart phone
in America; on every local, state, and federal legislator's taxpayer
bought stationery- design optional-; on every misbegotten blogpost;( in my younger and freshfaced days I recall the rebbe would always inscribe at the top of the letter or note he was about to write
the hebrew letters "b/h'- for "blessed is God" or "with the help of
God" - not so much out of a rigid religious dictate but borne out of a humble tradition making "us" always aware of God in our daily lives and making
whomever the letter was being sent to aware also -hopefully leading to
that glorious day when all the world-well you get the idea, I hope ) until the scourge of racism is effaced from our hearts and minds forever.
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