"A DIFFERENT VIEW"

“A DIFFERENT VIEW””

    In light of the terrible election results, I am giving thanks that this is Native American Heritage Month.  And, I am remembering that we have had small victories.  In the fall of 2021, Dekalb County approved the removal of the “Indian Wars Cannon” that had been placed in the Decatur Square in 1906 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).   While some of us had been working on this for a long while, we give thanks for the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, which took up this cause and brought it to fruition.  They were also instrumental in getting the Confederate Monument removed from the Square in the summer of 2020, now replaced by a statue of John Lewis, which was dedicated this past August.

          We also give thanks for our friend, Dekalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who was a powerful force behind the removals of both of these symbols of white supremacy.  As she put it in a statement when the cannon was removed:  “Dekalb County and the City of Decatur are places of love, not hate.  Of inclusion, not division.  And, so any sign that is divisive or is hurtful to others, or is a sign of oppression, we shouldn’t have in the county.” We give thanks for Mereda and Ted Terry who co-sponsored the resolution for removal.  Mereda is a long-time ally of justice causes, and she is the daughter-in-law of Christine Callier, longtime Oakhurst member.  She is also the spouse of Congressperson Hank Johnson.

The Indian Wars cannon memorialized the removal of Indigenous Peoples from this area following the Creek Indian War of 1836.  The war was rooted in the Indian Removal Act of 1830, supported and backed by President Andrew Jackson.  In 1821, the state of Georgia forced the sale of Creek (and Cherokee) land in Georgia, giving it at little cost to those who were classified as “white.”  The Creek and the Cherokee did not take this well, and violence broke out.   The Native Americans sued in federal court, and SCOTUS even ruled that their land should not be stolen in this manner, but President Jackson refused to enforce the SCOTUS ruling, saying infamously that if SCOTUS wanted its decision enforced, they should send their own soldiers to do it.  Under our Constitution, however, SCOTUS can have no soldiers.  The result was the horrifying Trail of Tears, removing many Indigenous People from their ancestral lands.  Since Trump is a fan of Andrew Jackson’s, we can expect these kinds of actions from him, although he now has a Trump friendly SCOTUS.

The UDC placed the cannon in Decatur Square in 1906, even before they had the Confederate monument installed in 1908.  Why this connection of the “Indian Wars” cannon to the Lost Cause?  Because both are monuments to white supremacy, and they are a reminder that most of us who are classified as “white” feel threatened by the presence of anyone categorized as “non-white,” most especially those seen as Black or Indigenous.  In this sense, Trump’s victory in the recent election should not be surprising at all.  He ran to “make America great again,” code for taking us back to the time when everyone agreed that white men should be in charge. 

The election results are a reminder of the danger in which we live, as white supremacy regains its strength.  But, we should also remember other visions.  In 1854, Chief Seattle, after whom the city is named, gave a powerful speech of lament about the taking of their lands (and ancestors) by those classified as ‘white.”  He added these words of warning and prophecy about the necessity of seeing one another as siblings rather than enemies:  “Even the white man, whose God walked and talked with him, as friend to friend, is not exempt from the common destiny.  We may be {brothers} after all.  We shall see.”

We may be siblings after all – that is a powerful phrase and a powerful thought.  In these days of growing danger, let us be watchful, but let us always remember this vision and seek to be guided by it.  We may be siblings after all.  We are siblings after, and even before, all is said and done.  We have a common ancestry and a common destiny.  We belong to one another.  We are all about to witness terrible reminders of the destructive powers of white supremacy.  As we experience and resist them, let us remember the powerful words of Chief Seattle:  “We may be siblings {brothers} after all.” And, let us seek to live them out.

"TRUMP SETTLES THE ARGUMENTS OF THE 1960'S - FOR NOW"

 “TRUMP SETTLES THE ARGUMENTS OF THE 60’S – FOR NOW”

First of all, on this Veterans’ Day, we give thanks for all those who have served our country, especially those who gave their lives or suffered grievous injuries.  I also give thanks for all those conscientious objectors, like myself, who served our country while refusing to kill someone else.  

I’ve been reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s fine book “Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960’s,”  given to us by our good and longtime friends, Jane and John Skelly,  for our 50th anniversary.   In this book,  she reviews the 1960’s through the lens of her marriage to Richard (Dick) Goodwin, who was a chief speechwriter for JFK, LBJ, Bobby Kennedy, and Eugene McCarthy.  Perhaps because of this book – and because the 1960’s were a decade that changed my life – I have been thinking of the electoral triumph of Donald Trump in terms of this turbulent yet consequential decade.  Also, because two of the main actors in the recent election were children of the 1960’s:  Joe Biden and Donald Trump.  

I was 13 years old at the beginning of the 1960’s, and I lived and breathed in the world of white, male supremacy.  At the beginning of the 1960’s, we lived in neo-slavery (I no longer use the misnomer “Jim Crow), in which Black people were denied fundamental freedoms.  Though the interstate bus system had been desegregated, lunch counters and businesses had not been, and voting rights for Black people in the South were non-existent.  In 1960, women could not have credit cards or bank accounts in their own names, nor could they serve on juries.  People who loved people of the same gender were not even on the public radar.  In other words, white, male supremacy still maintained a strong hold on the fabric and the consciousness of the country.  

    During the 1960’s, courageous people - especially Black people and women – were energized to seek changes in this oppressive system.  It made for a turbulent decade, but it also was a decade when many strides were made towards equality and justice.  Because of the powerful Civil Rights Movement, and because of the vision of JFK and the political skills of LBJ,  the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.  The Voting Rights Act effectively ended neo-slavery after 100 years, not to mention the previous 300 years of outright slavery. This energy for equality that Black people brought to our country was infectious – women began to hear that they might be able to fight for equality also.  Gay and lesbian people began to hear the public call to step up for equality – the Stonewall outbreak in New York City in 1969 was the beginning of a movement that is still reverberating today.  Migrant farmworkers and sanitation workers began to hear that they might have rights too.  There were many changes in the 1960’s for expanding the great American vision of equality – we all might be equal after all.

    There was also great resistance to this movement for equality.  Many people were jailed, tortured, and killed in response to the Civil Rights Movement.  JFK was assassinated in 1963.  Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965.  MLK was assassinated in 1968, as was Bobby Kennedy two months after King.  The power of white, male supremacy would not yield easily.  By the end of the decade, a President arose who was elected on the foundation of what he called “the Southern Strategy.”  Richard Nixon understood the depth of the resentment and grievance of white people, especially white men, and he rode it to victory in 1968.  He never named it, of course, but it was a powerful force, as it always has been in American history.  Currently, it goes by the name of “MAGA.”

    These two forces – the longing for equality and the depth of white, male supremacy – have been in battle in American history since the Declaration of Independence was adopted.  They were especially engaged in the 1960’s, when mass media like television carried the images of stark inequality to American homes.  The 1960’s reminded us that we are always wrestling with these two forces in our collective history as a people.  Neither will go away for long.  

    Donald Trump, like Richard Nixon before him (and many others) correctly gauged the depth of white grievance and resentment of the continuing struggle to expand the idea of equality.  He has ridden this rising wave of resentment by those classified as “white”  and is now taking office with the intentions of “making America great again.”  By that, he means that he wants to return us to a time when everyone recognized that white males must be in charge.  Many of his actions will be the desire to roll back the gains of equality and to re-establish the hierarchy that was firmly put in place in the 1890’s.  One key difference between Nixon and Trump – Nixon still believed in American democracy, while Trump believes that only he can rule wisely.  Trump might even declare martial law on his first day in office, so that he can use the American military to enforce the law as he wants.  So, we are in for rough times, and we all will be called upon to protest, strategize, and organize in order to resist this movement back to the idea that white men should be in charge.  For now, Trump has settled the arguments  of the 1960’s.  

    One caveat to this – and a small sign of hope.  Lyndon Johnson was elected president in 1964 with one of the largest election victories ever, and he seemed unstoppable.  Only two years later, the Johnsonian order was beginning to crumble under the weight of the Vietnam War.  By the end of March, 1968, LBJ had given up in defeat and decided not to run for re-election as President.  Though Trump cannot run for re-election (at least not as the law stands now), let us hope that the power of the idea of equality that drove the 1960’s will make its presence known soon, in ways that we cannot now imagine, because of our shock and sorrow at the results of the election.

"THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED"

 “THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED”

Tuesday marks the end of the national election period, and the future of the USA depends on the outcome.   No matter who wins the presidential election,  we will all be in hell for a while.  If Trump wins, we are going to hell.   If Harris wins, then Trump will make our lives hell for two months before the vote is certified on January 6.  Fortunately, President Biden will control the military this time, rather than Trump controlling it.  If Harris is the winner (and I believe and hope that she will be), the certification process on January 6 will take focus.  

If he loses, Trump will seek to challenge the swing states that he lost.  Georgia is solid, so that will go nowhere here.  Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania all have Democratic governors, who will not be calling special sessions of the legislature to dispute those Harris wins.  Trump’s strategy will be to deny enough states that he lost, so that the election will be thrown to the House to decide it.  I am hoping that the Democrats will win the House, so that they will have the votes to certify the election.  If they do not win the House, we may be in for a rough time.  If a Republican House majority refuses to certify the election, then the election will be decided by the House.  And, if that happens, Trump will likely win because at that point, the House votes by states, rather than by congressional districts.  If that is the case, we will be right back to 1876, when Rutherford Hayes made a deal with the Southern states to end the military occupation by Union soldiers.  At that point America was “made great again” by allowing slavery to make its return as neo-slavery (often known as Jim Crow.)  Trump and the MAGA movement have those intentions also.  

So, there is a lot to think about (and pray over).  In 2020, it was Saturday after the election before Pennsylvania was called for Biden, giving him the Presidency.  That same scenario may play out in 2024, although I am hoping that Harris’ victory will be clear before then.  We know that Trump will declare victory sometime on the evening of election night, so that he can once again say the election was stolen from him.  It would be so nice for Harris to win out clearly and to send Trump back to the November sentencing and other court cases waiting for him.

We do face a stark contrast and momentous decision in this election.  Harris represents a new generation, seeking to take the mantle of leadership from my Boomer generation.  She also represents the multiracial culture that is emerging in the USA, a culture that will determine much of our country’s future.  Trump represents the old, white male culture that has held power since the beginning of this nation’s history.  And, if we elect Trump, we will be deserving of him – seeking to return us to the toxic masculinity, greed, and white grievance which are his driving forces.  Which way will we go?  We’ll know sometime next week.  AND, don’t forget to vote – it is at the heart of our lives together.  

"WHAT IF TRUMP WINS?"

 “WHAT IF TRUMP WINS?”

The national polls and the polls in the swing states are making me nervous – it is much too close for comfort!  While I still think that Harris will win by taking the Blue Wall states and the one district in Nebraska, I am nervous.  Harris may also take North Carolina, but I will be very surprised if she wins Georgia (though I would love for her to do so).  This will make for a long election night.

So, I must consider that Donald Trump may win the presidential election, and that is a scary thought.  How could such a crude, would-be dictator be so close to being elected president?  I think that there are several factors, and I want to look at those briefly before looking at a future Trump presidency.  First, he has correctly understood how deep is the idea of white grievance, and he is exploiting it strongly.  Those of us who are classified as “white” have felt for some time that we are losing power in America.  The election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 heightened the fears of white people that we were being replaced.  The demographics do not bode well for superiority in numbers for those classified as “white,” and Trump has effectively exploited those fears while fanning their flames.

Second, in this election especially, Trump is making a play for the votes of young males of all racial categories.  His offensive remarks, his threats of revenge against his enemies, his boasting of his (and only his) power – all speak to the masculine side of young men, men who are coming of age in a time when most women are refusing to fit back into the old patterns of the pre-1960’s time.  We who are classified as “male” are not sure what our place is in the modern world, and one prominent alternative that Trump is offering is a call to return to a time when it was clear to everyone that males, especially white males, should be in charge.  The “Make America Great Again” slogan refers not only to racial categories, but to gender categories as well.

Third, many Republicans have lost their courage when it comes to Trump.  They know that he has a 40% base who will follow him blindly, and if they want to have any future in the party, they must stick with him now – here’s looking at you, Nikki Haley and Brian Kemp.  Rather than sit this one out, refusing to endorse anyone, many of these Repubs have endorsed Trump and used their networks to support him.  What should be a landslide for Harris (like LBJ and Goldwater in 1964) has turned into a cliff-hanger because of the lack of Republican courage.

Fourth, the Democrats (especially Joe Biden) have been their own worst enemy.  As I wrote last week, Biden should have announced early in 2023 that he would not seek a second term as President.  His oh-so-late announcement in late July deprived the Democrats of the natural primary process, where the strongest candidate would emerge.  This is not to say that Harris is not the strongest candidate (though I favored Gretchen Whitmer).  It is rather to say that whoever got the nomination had only 110 days or so before the election, putting them at a severe disadvantage, as we are seeing with Harris.

So, if Trump wins, what can we expect?  I don’t think that Trump is actually interested in being President again – he simply wants to win in order to get revenge on his opponents, and he wants to dismiss as many federal counts against him as possible, so that he may stay out of jail.  The sentencing hearing in Judge Marchand’s court in New York in November will get even more interesting if Trump wins the election.  Judge Chutken may refuse to drop the charges against Trump in the DC circuit, even if the prosecutor moves to drop them.  Of course, finding someone to prosecute will be a major problem.  

I do think that Trump will seek some revenge on his political enemies, and he will push for DOJ and IRS to investigate them,  likely starting with Liz Cheney, Adam Schiff, John Kelly, Mark Milley, and Merrick Garland.  And with SCOTUS having ruled that Presidents are virtually immune from their actions while in office, Trump will have very few guardrails.  John Roberts’ scolding of the moderates and those on the left may come back to haunt him, when Trump pulls an Andrew Jackson and tells SCOTUS that he will not enforce any of their rulings that are not in his favor. 

I don’t think that Trump is interested in running the government – he will turn that over to his minions, including JD Vance, Stephen Miller, Jeffrey Clark, and others.  He will direct them to strengthen the power of the executive, all the while seeking to gut the power of the federal government, so as to weaken the regulating power which seeks to hold corporate and private power in check.  In other words, this will be a rocky and scary four years, if Trump wins.  I vacillate daily, but I still believe that Harris will pull it out.  

"SLOUCHING TOWARDS THE ELECTION"

 “SLOUCHING TOWARDS THE ELECTION”

Over a year ago, many of us were urging President Biden to decline to run for another term.  While most of his policies were decent, he was looking old and worn-out, and I did not think that he had the stamina to run or to serve a second term as president.  As it became clear that Donald Trump would receive the Republican nomination, it seemed imperative that Biden step aside and allow the Democrats to choose a more formidable candidate to run against Trump.  As Nikki Haley put it, “the first party to drop their 80 year old candidate will win the presidency.”  At that time, I urged Biden to announce in a timely fashion that he would not run again.  That would allow the Dems to have a somewhat orderly process to pick their nominee – Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, Cory Booker, Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Stacey Abrams or some other candidate.

Biden did not decline to run again in a timely fashion, and his egoistic delay has cost the Democrats dearly.  Only his stumbling debate performance in late June forced him to withdraw in late July, leaving no candidate the opportunity to  develop a strong profile and candidacy to run for president.  This is no knock against Vice-President Kamala Harris – under the circumstances, she is running a fine race.  There simply may not be enough time for the American people to get to know her and her strengths.  That responsibility lies at the feet of one of the two old white men, who seem unable and unwilling to pass the torch to a new generation, which Kamala Harris now represents.

I’m borrowing a closing phrase from W.B. Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” to represent some of my feelings about this election:

“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”

I’m using this phrase because it seems obvious to me that Kamala Harris is by far the better candidate for President of the United States than Donald Trump.  Yet, Biden’s clinging to a second term for so long has severely limited Harris’ ability to run an effective campaign.  All the polls show a very tight race, and that makes me think that Trump has a chance to win a second term as president, which is a scary prospect – the rough beast slouching towards Washington to stamp out what is left of American democracy.

Vice-President Kamala Harris is a formidable candidate for President – she was my choice in 2019 before her inexperienced candidacy caused her to drop out.  I am impressed with her ability to learn from her mistakes, to be nimble on her feet in interviews, her commitment to middle class and working people, and with her combination of strength, humor, and insight.  She combines the agility of Barack Obama with the down-homeness of Bill Clinton, and she clearly has the intellectual power to do the job.  I am also impressed with her decision not to pound out the fact that if she wins, she will be the first woman President.  It is as if she is saying that the debate over women presidents is over – get over it, it is no big deal, because women are (and always have been) capable of being President.

Trump and his MAGA movement have made this a difficult time in American politics, and I am hoping that people are simply tired of Trump and all his melodrama – give us a decent and sane person for a change!  The MAGAs will not go away if Trump loses – there has always been a MAGA movement flowing through American history.  But, perhaps a Harris victory will point us towards a time when the multicultural society, that is being forged demographically in this country, will have more legitimacy than it does now.  Right now, we are in a battle to see if white people (especially white men) will acknowledge the multicultural society that is coming.  Indeed, the state of Georgia is already barely majority “white.”  That is a huge sea change, which will need a leader like Kamala Harris to help us negotiate.  If Trump wins, we will continue to have the tantrums of white men seeking to dominate our story.

Caroline and I had the privilege of voting for Harris and Walz on Wednesday, and we were impressed that over 1,300,000 people voted early in Georgia in this first week of voting (5 million votes overall expected in Georgia).  Such a great turnout in early voting has generally boded well for Democrats, but the Repubs have learned from Stacey Abrams and others about the benefit of early voting.  On this day of October 21, I believe (and I desperately hope) that Kamala Harris will win the Presidency, but I am also aware of the high stakes and the close race.  In that sense, rather than entitling the blog “Sailing Towards Victory in the Election,” my gut feeling remains “Slouching Towards the Election.”  You can choose which title prevails by voting for Harris and making sure that all of your friends, neighbors, and colleagues do the same.  As I wrote in the 2020 election, please vote – if Trump wins, this may be our last meaningful vote.  Let’s make sure that our votes continue to count for many years to come.

"FROM ONE STORY TO MANY STORIES"

 “FROM ONE STORY TO MANY STORIES”

In 2009, Nigerian-born author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a TED Talk entitled “The Danger of One Story.”  I was still doing a lot of anti-racism workshops at the time, and we sometimes used her TED Talk as an entry point into the danger of one story coming to dominate all others.  Her point was that the white, Western sense of racial superiority was born of one story:  the story of the system of race, which tells all that those classified as “white” are superior to all other racial classifications, and “white” people should be in control of all things.  Her TED Talk is quite remarkable – if you are not familiar with it, check it out at https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?subtitle=en.

Today is Indigenous Peoples Day, and it comes at the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, with Native American History Month beginning soon in November.  Why all these different months?  Why recognize Hispanic Heritage, Black History (February), Women’s History Month (March), Asian American Heritage (May), along with many others?  They serve as reminders that there are many stories about the many branches of humanity – a truth that white, American culture has long sought to deny.  Today is also known as “Columbus Day,” celebrating Italian-American heritage, but also celebrating the European who “discovered” America.  It took me a long time in my journey to recognize that the lands that came to be known as “America” were already populated with many different tribes of people, clumped together as “Indians,” as “Native Americans,” as “Indigenous People” – in Canada known as “First Nations.”  So, Columbus did not discover America – rather he was the vessel for the transfer of many Europeans, who would come to the Americas.  In so doing, those of us of “white” heritage would annihilate the native peoples living here, import enslaved people from Africa to work the land, then grow immense wealth from these activities.

Growing up, I was proud of my Scotch-Irish ancestors who were the tip of the spear for the movement of white people westward across the South.  Killing or removing Cherokee people, Muscogee people, Creek people, Choctaw people, Seminole people and others – we marched relentlessly across the South to establish a “white haven.” And, yes, there is a suburb in Memphis known as “Whitehaven,” populated ironically now by mostly Black people.  As I have learned more about my heritage and my history, I am not so proud now.  Yet, that story must be told.  We “whites” must know about the Trail of Tears and the “Indian Removal Act,” not to make us feel guilty but to help us to understand our history and to understand  that there are many stories.  Many Native American peoples have struggled long and hard to recover their cultures, to celebrate themselves, and to thank their gods that they have survived.

In these days, we are invited to consider that there are many stories, and that we can all learn from one another’s stories.  The hegemony of white culture and expansionism has made this a difficult task, but we may be at the inflection point of needing to hear the power and truth of other cultures’ stories.  For many years now, I have been impressed with the Native American idea that the ancestors can be found in the living beings on the earth.  Our “white” approach has been to see beings like trees in a utilitarian way:  we see trees, and we think of the houses that can be built from them.  When Native Americans see trees, they see the locale of their ancestors.  This does not mean that we don’t cut down trees to make houses and firewood, but it does mean that we should shift from our utilitarian view of nature to a more wholistic view of us and nature.  The recent monster hurricanes remind us that the time for making this shift is over, that nature is now seeing us as we have seen nature:  something in the way, something to be torn down.  Yet, we always have an opportunity to shift our perspective from one of exploitation to one of partnership.  

Lest we think that this is only an outdated, tortuous exercise, let us recall that it is at the heart of the division in America in these days.  Donald Trump helped bring the “one story” idea back to the surface of American life, but it has long been there.  I have it in my own consciousness, breathed in through the air of white, male supremacy.  “Make America Great Again” is a call to return to the days of one story: the white, male story.  If Donald Trump wins the election, we will see a much more concerted effort to re-establish firmly the power of white patriarchy.  Yet, even if Kamala Harris wins the election, the power of “one story” will continue to resonate and have political power.  Harris represents a small but significant step to expand the American narrative from one story to many stories.  Her election would be an opportunity to begin to have a different narrative about ourselves and to begin to celebrate the multicultural nature of American history.  Many of us who are classified as “white” feel anxious and afraid, because we know that the demographics are not in our favor.  Trump has brought this brooding sense of grievance to the surface, and this election has now taken on much more importance than it might have.  So, make it your point to vote and to make sure that at least ten of your friends, neighbors and colleagues vote.  

"THE MIDDLE EAST"

 “THE MIDDLE EAST”

Today marks the first anniversary of the horrific slaughter of Israeli civilians by fighters from Hamas.  The Israeli response has been the killing of 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and now they have added Hezbollah in Lebanon, with likely attacks on Iran to come.  It is a dangerous, dangerous time, with these events baked into hundreds of years of history.  The leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, seems intent on pursuing the violence until all the enemies are not only defeated but also destroyed.  He also faces legal difficulties of his own, and I would hate to think that he is stretching out the war to preserve his own skin legally, but there is a strong hint of that.  He seems similar to Trump on that score.

Because of the Jewish connections that my Mother and I had in my hometown, I have always leaned towards Israel in any Mid East conflicts.  But, over the last few years, Israel has gradually turned into an apartheid nation, and that has given me great pause.  Having grown up in a land where the original residents were either killed or dispossessed of their land by my ancestors, and then that same land was worked by people who were enslaved, I have trouble keeping the same level of support for Israel, which dispossessed the original Palestine peoples without compensation.  The “Palestinian problem” continues to plague the nation of Israel, and it led directly to the horrible and brutal attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7.  

     Israel became a modern  nation in 1948 in some of its original territories as a result of lobbying by Jewish leaders, but most of all because of the horrors of the Holocaust, horrors which were a culmination of centuries of mostly Christian oppression and brutal policies toward Jewish people.  The problem is that there were people already living in those lands, and for the most part they were removed.  They have become known as the Palestinians.  Since Israel took their lands 75 years ago, no adequate provision has been made for the Palestinians.  They have been squeezed into the West Bank and into Gaza, much like the Native Americans were squeezed into “reservations” in our country.  There does not seem to be a viable solution to this issue, though the “two state” solution has come back in to diplomatic and public conversations. In the meantime, Israel continues its repressive policies towards the Palestinians – Jewish settlers continue to move into Palestinian areas.  

    Even those who support the Palestinians were shocked by the brutal, terroristic nature of the attacks by Hamas on October 7.  It is hard to justify the killing of so many civilians at a music concert, and nothing justifies the killing of babies.  Yet we must also recognize the level of desperation and rage that was at the heart of those attacks.  That level does not come because the attackers are savages, as the mainstream Western media has called them.  That level is reached because of a deep and continued wounding of the human heart, a wounding so deep that it makes the attacker willing and able to do inhuman acts.

    I am not justifying the Hamas attacks, but I put their rage on the same level that Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, and John Brown had in their attacks on the institution of slavery.   Until there is adequate compensation and justice for the Palestinians, these attacks will continue to rise.  At least two things must happen in the Middle East for any semblance of peace with justice to arise.  First, the nation of Israel must be recognized as a legitimate state – many Palestinians still see Israel as an occupying force over these 75 years.  Those who attacked Israel on October 7 did it as a liberating act against the occupying oppressor.  That can no longer be the rubric of the Middle East.

     Justice must be found and established for the Palestinian people.  I don’t know what that would look like at this point, but Israel and the West must make a strong commitment to it.  I have not seen such commitment from the leadership of Israel since Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in November, 1995.  Yet, that commitment must be renewed, or the war that is now playing out in Israel and Gaza will be deepened to a level that may lead to WW III.  Both Israel and the Palestinians are now saying “Never Again,” and without a bold diplomatic solution, the future for the Middle East and for all of us looks grim.