50 Years Later…

1968 was a bad year for many people in America. All of us alive then lived our lives one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time. We were happy at times, unhappy other times, and unaware much of the time. 1968 was the year I met Ann, loved her and married in December. 1968 was the year Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April. So too, Bobby Kennedy in June of that year. Racial unrest was rampant throughout 1968; riots happened. Large swaths of urban areas were burned out by rioting black communities. The war in Viet Nam droned on and on in spite of broad-based political protests. College and University campuses were on the verge of riots and violence throughout the year.

The 1968 Democrat Party Convention was held in Chicago that year to nominate a presidential candidate to be elected in November. Riots took place in Chicago to protest the convention, national policies, and the war in Viet Nam.

The nation was a tinder box. And it erupted several times. We wondered at the time what this would mean for the country going forward. It was to take several years for a better understanding to unfold.

But violence did hold reign in America at that time.

50 years later – 2018 – we are in a similar turbulent time. How turbulent and violent remains to be seen. Half the year has transpired with rising anger and incivility. Violence has broken out in several places. Property damage has been reported. Protests are growing in size and severity. Arrests have been made to restore order. High levels of violence have not been registered to match 1968. Yet. One wonders if assassinations are to be expected soon. Guns now number 330 million. That’s probably double what they were in 1968.

The mood of the public is unsettled. Will peace snap into open violence this summer?

No one knows but the chances rise with each additional issue mismanaged by the white house and intentional incivility sponsored by the white house is made known. Open hostility by the president cheers his supporters and angers the rest of us. The numbers are roughly 40% to 60% in general – 40% in support of trump. But these numbers shift with each issue under discussion.

With the imminent retirement of Supreme Court Justice Kennedy, these issues are in doubt for the future:

·        Gay rights

·        Abortion rights

·        Women’s rights

·        Freedom from religious persecution; separation of church and state

·        Labor rights

·        Access to adequate health care and insurance coverage

·        Access to affordable education

·        Freedom of press

These are heavy duty issues to have hanging in doubt. They define who and what America is in the annals of global history. Immigration rights and welcome used to be a halcyon characteristic of our nation and its character. It no longer is that.

People say this does not define America, but it does. We either welcome immigrants to our nation or we don’t, if they are at our borders or points of entry. They are either welcomed and processed humanely and quickly, or they are not. On all counts they are not so treated. We are not a welcoming nation for immigrants. We must face that fact. Either we accept it or change back to what we were once proud to be. We can’t own the definition without restoring the welcome.

So, we have problems. Huge ones. And all of them need attention and repair.

Until that is done we are in crisis. Added to that crisis is the constitutional crisis adopted by fiat and ignorance. And the political parties are deadlocked and cannot address the problem.

What then do Americans do? Live each day and each hour as they come? See the violence brewing and do nothing to maintain peace? Allow thugs and ill-informed voters to change what we were into what we are today?

Are we to remain meek and do nothing in the face of this travesty? If so, then we have become what we claim not to be so.

How very sad that is.

June 29, 2018