"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." Maya Angelou, whose photo above I took from her FaceBook page), said this line, and I hope it's going to become 2020's mantra.
I don't want anybody to think that I'm loving on 2020. In the world, this year has left too many people suffering on too many fronts: sickness, economic loss, police brutality, and government officials who compound the problems, aren't listening, don't care, and won't change. I don't take any of those lightly. On a personal level, this year has put some stumbling blocks unrelated to any of the above in my way. (I'm using "stumbling blocks" as a euphemism for events–deaths, illness, financial issues, etc–that have tried to break me.) Plus, 2020 is the year of the murder hornets. It's a nightmare come to life.
But then I think about some other years in US history, and I consider the legacies of those years' events. To delineate a few:
- In 1619, the first slaves were brought here.
- Leading up to 1848, Europeans killed around eight million indigenous people.
- In 1918, more than 675,000 (0.5% of the US population) Americans died of influenza.
- In 1933, unemployment peaked at 25% of the population.
- In 1965, the US started to invade Vietnam. These could all be called horrible years.
And a different kind of horrible accounting for years:
- In 1955, Emmitt Till was killed, and nothing was done to his killers.
- In 2012, Jordan Russell Davis was killed.
- In 2014, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Akai Gurley, Laquan McDonald, Gabriella Navarez, Tanisha Anderson, and Michael Brown were murdered.
- In 2015, Sandra Bland, Eric Harris, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Jeremy McDole, Jamar Clark, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton Doctor, Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel L. Simmons, Myra Thompson, William Chapman II, Sam Dubose, Michelle Cusseaux, Janisha Fonville, Jamar Clark, and Christian Taylor were murdered.
- In 2016, Alton B. Sterling, Terence Crutcher, Philando Castile, Keith Lamont Scott, and Paul O'Neal were killed.
- In 2017, Jordan Edwards got murdered.
- In 2018, Stephon Clark and Botham Jean were murdered.
- In 2019, Atatiana Jefferson was murdered.
These aren't all of the cases of targeted violence against black people; they're just a very few of the ones that have been witnessed or captured on film or publicized. None of them has incited any changes that would eliminate systemic injustice and personal violence against black people in this country.
Many white people, myself included, heard about some or all of those cases, felt true sadness, and then went on with our lives. Because 2020 found us inside during a pandemic, we could not look away. This year, we did not have busy lives to get back to. In 2020, we had to keep staring at what George Floyd's death and Breonna Taylor's death and Aura Rosser's death indicate about what we've condoned for the 155 years since slavery supposedly ended.
Finally, we can't turn away. Finally, we white people are turning up in droves to support #blacklivesmatter not because we didn't believe that before, but because we didn't have to make it a priority before. I could go on living in my safe bubble of whiteness, but Covid-19 popped that.
If we can harness the energy that the crises of 2020 have brought into focus to turn our country around, not to make it "great again," but to make it great for the first time, not to pay lip service to "with liberty and justice for all," but actually to achieve liberty and justice for all, then 2020 can be remembered as the beginning of a new era. White people, I call on you to vote, to donate, to sign, to organize, or to do whatever else you can dismantle systemic racism in America. We must demand new policies that promote equity. Even after we have a coronavirus vaccine, we must keep facing the injustice of our society head on. We must not turn our backs any longer. Because of the confluence of chaos in 2020, we now know better; we must obey the call to do better.
What do you think? Please share your ideas in the comments.
Inspired. Thank you. I and others in my age bracket do not easily attend protest gatherings but can still participate in other ways. voteforward.org is an organization that targets under-represented but registered voters who are unlikely to vote. The names are provided only to the actual letter writer who uses a down-loaded format with space for a short hand-written message but there no specific party or candidate is mentioned. The focus is on states where voting is most crucial. I have five names in Texas with notes to be mailed a week or perhaps a bit more just before the November election date. When I get a bit more organized I shall ask for more names. The process is easy and uncomplicated. The program has been shown to be effective.
What a wonderful way to help — thanks for sharing it! I’ve recently seen a graphic with two versions of the most recent election. The first shows a roughly equal sides pie-chart with Trump’s 62,984,825 votes looking about the same as Clinton’s 65,853,516 votes (Don’t get me started on the electoral college!), but the second pie chart shows the real voting on the same day. About half of the pie chart is divided between Trump and Clinton, but the other half is eligible voters who didn’t vote. What a HUGE difference that 49% of people would make. Thanks for helping get them out there.
All good things, Carita
Here’s hoping. Thanks for the optimistic and inspirational outlook
As always, thanks for reading!
Great way to look at it!
Hey Avi, You read my blog! Thanks so much! Yes, 2020 has made it difficult to find the positives, but I’m still looking. If this year provides a much-needed pivot, I’ll be grateful for that. Virtual hugs to you, Carita