This is Not the 1950s
Many people who refuse to believe that racism still exists love to say that this is not the 1950s or 1960s.
Many bigots love to tell the African-American community to get over slavery because that happened centuries ago.
For those who think that African-Americans should get over prejudice because this is not the 1950s, it should be said to them also that this is not the 1950s or 1960s.
The days of African-Americans fearing lynch mobs is a thing of the past, and threats to lynch Congressman Al Green (D-Texas) for seeking to impeach President Donald Trump will not stop anyone, Black or White, from seeking justice for all Americans.
One caller to Congressman Al Green’s office stated, “You ain’t going to impeach nobody. Try it and we will lynch all of you. You’ll be hanging from a tree.”
The only reason an African-American of the 21st century would be worrying about someone hanging from a tree is if a loved-one committed suicide. No African-American fears the threats of bigots and bigots should realize that their days of intimidating minority communities are long over.
Trump’s desire to make America great again for some is really to make America hate again.
However, it will not happen because the dynamics of the country are totally different than it was during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Lynchings, from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement, were effective for bigots because the American justice system was set up in such a way that African-Americans had no way to defend themselves and no way to seek justice from the court system.
That reality led to fear for many in the African-American community because members of the community had no legal way to defend themselves and authority figures did not do anything to protect the African-American community.
Although the justice system does not always protect the rights of African-Americans, the system is more aligned with equal justice under the law than it has ever been in the history of the country.
However, when bigots threatened African-Americans like Congressman Al Green for using their power and authority with a lynching, they are threatening to return America to the days where Whites ruled and people of color were always their subordinates.
People have to realize that there is no way that America will return to those days. The country will be majority minority halfway through the 21st century and there is nothing under the sun that will return the country to the status quo.
In 2015, U.S. News and World Report wrote, “The minority population is expected to rise to 56 percent of the total population in 2060, compared with 38 percent last year.”
According to The African American Encyclopedia, “While carried out in the name of justice, the lynching of African American victims was a cruel and unjust means by which Whites maintained the racial status quo, inducing and reinforcing fear in the hearts and minds of other members of the Black community…
“The overwhelming majority of those lynched between 1890 and 1900 were accused of social offenses—disputing with White shopkeepers, usually offensive language, failing to address Whites respectfully—or of challenging White authority by attempting to vote in elections, testifying against White citizens in court, and seeking jobs considered to be above their social station.”
From 1890 to 1900, Congressmen Al Green would have committed multiple offenses that might have warranted lynching.
The congressman had the unmitigated gall to not only vote in an election but to win multiple elections.
Not only is he guilty of not addressing a White man “respectfully,” he also committed the ultimate act of disrespect by planning to file impeachment papers on a White president.
Unfortunately for bigots, the year is 2017 not 1907.
