By J.D. EPHRAIM
Another take on the American saga is the fact that in spite of its existence for several centuries, even after the abolition of slavery and its trade, the fighting of civil wars, the several amendments to its constitution, the granting of civil liberties and equality before the law, the recognition of the rule of law and not rule by man, in spite of these changes and the advancements that have been made in American history, American society is still struggling with the issue of race. In spite of the fact that America is a country of immigrants(apart from the American Indians ), made up of people of different races, and up to date, there is still a marked difference, based on race, between white Americans on the one hand, and the rest, such as the blacks, Latinos, Asians, etc on the other hand, but most notably people of negroid origin, commonly called blacks, or blacks of African origin.
We thought that America was done with racial discrimination since the sixties and the early seventies, but alas, what has played out in America in recent times, has exposed the underbelly of racism. In spite of legal and constitutional guarantees, we can see that bigots exist in America. When given the opportunity which leadership confers, as, during the Trump era, it exposed the fact that racism still exists in America. Trump’s era exposed him as a racial bigot. The wealth he had, which was mostly inherited, enabled him to bulldoze his way through and hijacked control of the Republican party. He appealed to the sentiments of the average white Americans, mostly those who do not have beyond college education. His speeches and actions threw him up as an American patriot, who has come to retrieve the white race back to prominence and ownership of America. They were henceforth to exert their dominance in America once again. The ascension of Barak Obama, a black man, to the Presidency, and his successful tenure for two terms, served as a dire warning to this class with Trump as their leader. Trump rode to power on the back of racism, claiming that he was reclaiming white supremacy. All these talks about ” make America great again”, and “America first”, were mere gimmicks and cover-ups. As you could see, there was no way America could withdraw into herself, having played leading roles on the international scene and as “policeman of the world “.
Inspite of the embarrassment America has sufferred for the past four years and the fact that Donald Trump, an acclaimed racist, could garner up to almost half of American voters votes, were mainly from the whites and acclaimed racist segments of American society, goes to show the extent they could go in order to reclaim America back for the white race. Most white Christian- evangelicals hinged their support for Trump, based on his not supporting legalizing abortions, which to us would appear just cover up for their concern on the dwindling white population in the U.S .vis a vis other coloured people. Trump’s support for Isreal could be regarded as a cover-up, to gain the support of other Christians mainly in America, including Nigerians and the Christian world, who were easily deceived and bought over by Trump and his campaign team . The fact is that there is no past American government that has ever been against the state of Isreal. In fact Isreal is often regarded as a satellite state of America.
If you look at what happened at the Capitolon January 6, this year, there were no blacks.
It was an all-white affair, with known white racist groups gaining prominence. If you listen to what the participants were saying or chanting, it will convince you of the racial slant of the whole thing.
To Trump’s people, it was a fight against Biden taking America back to yesteryears.
The luck for America in this saga is that America has succeeded in building strong institutions and no matter how strong an individual was or is, it was, or is, unlikely he or she will defeat the strong American institutions.
What happened in America on January 6, and still happening, is not a disgrace, but it is a lesson for other third world countries where you have tyrants, authoritarian leaders, and pseudo-democracies, to learn. Countries need strong institutions and not strong individuals. Where there are weak institutions, no matter how benevolent the leadership is, it will always bend towards autocracy and dictatorship.
Chief/Barr. J.D.EPHRAIM.