By Terrence J. Roberts, PhD
August 24, 2020
The march on Washington in 1963 was a clarion call to Americans to imagine a future framed by a different narrative. It was not the first of such entreaties imploring us to critically examine our support for policies of oppression and exclusion and to consider the adoption of policies of justice and inclusion, but it was one of the more celebrated events of its genre. Even so, in the wake of that electrifying demonstration, it is painfully apparent that we did not heed the call then, and we have waited fifty-seven years to reconsider the need to tell a different story, to marshal our forces, to employ our energies in this virtual march on Washington to once again prick the national conscience; to remind American citizens that all of us are charged with the responsibility to build a country that will benefit, not just White Americans, but all Americans.
We must be able to imagine what the future will resemble when the story we share at the family altar, from the community church pulpit, on the politician’s website, in the halls of Congress, and from the west wing of the White House, is a story embracing the virtues of justice and inclusion. When such an imagined future takes root at the bone marrow level for all of us, we have a fighting chance to override the machinations of those who remain committed to upholding the static imperialism of the status quo with its greed-propelled emphasis on the success of the few at the expense of the many.
The current national narrative, rooted firmly in the mythological soil of individualism, was never designed to lead us toward a more perfect Union. We now have the chance to recalibrate our national GPS system, to alter our course and plan a route that leads toward the kind of Union that honors and embraces each one of us as vital and necessary parts of the body politic. How do we do this? By becoming actively involved in the political process through voting in local, State and National elections; by staying in active communication with elected officials; by building relationships with those who have not yet learned how to discern the pernicious aspects of the status quo in hopes that, during the course of such relationships, windows of opportunity will allow us to share with them reasonable alternatives; by spending time with those around us who have been most negatively impacted by the policies of oppression and exclusion and perhaps most importantly, read voraciously to increase our level of understanding of the threat posed to all of us by the keepers of the imperial flame.
Our most potent tool in the struggle to effect real change is the power of collective choice. Black citizens in Montgomery, Alabama chose to walk rather than ride the segregated public buses. The bus company then chose to desegregate rather than to apply for bankruptcy protection. What can we imagine as our Montgomery experience? How willing are we to challenge the status quo in the name of long overdo change for the better? Can we see a more perfect Union looming on the horizon? The choice is ours. Choose today what you imagine to be the most perfect Union.