D-Day observation. Come and gone. No Kings national protest. Come and gone. Juneteenth. All of these events, going back 81 years or as recent as two weeks ago, relate to one segment of humanity in conflict with another segment. D-Day helped stop Nazi Germany from further inflicting its evil intentions. No Kings protests hope to stop our current domestic slide into authoritarianism. Juneteenth is notable in the context of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
Clearly these struggles are still ongoing. Fascism. Authoritarianism. Racism. Perhaps they will never be permanently resolved. Why? Human beings are obviously not inclined to work for a common good. Feel free to convince me otherwise. That is, beyond a personal opinion, prove me — and tomes of historical records — wrong.
That is not to say we should give up. I’ve been around long enough to feel pretty cynical about humanity. I served during Vietnam and still don’t understand why we were there. Well, I do understand post-WWII geopolitics, and why Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon went along with that quagmire — until national politics compelled them to be pragmatic. The betrayal of those who died in that conflict!
Now, sadly, but not shockingly, we’re about to help embroil the Middle East with increasing carnage. Bombs in their bunkers on alert. And racism is absolutely still a fact of life for Black people and Brown people are getting ICED. The working class as a whole is in the crosshairs of our current reckless and nefarious administration.
Maybe we should call every month “Teenth.” Coming up: JulyTeenth. Then AugustTeenth and so on.
Hang in there. Keep the (some?) faith. Practice critical listening and thinking.
In the immortal words of Rodney King: “Can’t we all just get along?” In the immortal words of Brian Wilson, “Wouldn’t it be nice?”
Joseph Harrington
Oak Park