With all that is going on in the news these days, it is easy to forget the progress we have made. My family and I were on the mall on January 20, 2009 for Barack Obama’s first inauguration. There were people as far as the eye could see to witness the inauguration of this country’s first Black president. We could only get as close as the far side of the Washington monument. But the air was electric and people were optimistic about our future. Here is a video I took that day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQpGsZyrcc0
Who could have predicted that the backlash that followed would lead to almost half of the country acting in a cult like fashion to deny reality in subservience to an amoral, fascist, megalomaniac, pathological liar and conman or that we would witness a rise in hate crimes and political violence? Or that the president would incite a mob to attack the Capitol on January 6? Today’s Supreme Court decision on affirmative action is part of the backlash. But it won’t last. It has been 2 steps forward and 1 step back for most of this nation’s history. But I prefer the optimistic view. I was also on the mall on January 20, 1993 when Bill Clinton was sworn in and remember hearing him say, “There is nothing wrong about America, that cannot be cured by what is right about America.” I still believe that today. The struggle to make this country a more perfect union continues.