How far have we really come?

It took me a while to write this month only because I was considering how far we have come as a people in these United States. I realize that we’ve come this far by faith…..that was one of Ruth Westcott James 1913-1998, my grandmother’s favorite songs. Today would have been her 108th birthday. She never forgot that she was the granddaughter of former slaves.

She was the daughter of John Arthur Westcott Sr. and Georgie Anna Gunter(Gunther in some censuses). Granddaughter of John Gunter b. 1857/Mary Ann Mears b. 1860 and Frank Wescott b. 1857/Ruth Savage b. 1860. She was raised and loved by formerly enslaved people who knew the value of freedom. They instilled in her a drive to improve not only her life but the life of those around her. She kindness and love was memorialized and written about in a book Backward Glances by Margaret Boole Downing.

When I think about her sacrifices and how she endured being sharecroppers’ daughters and then being a sharecropper herself. She didn’t have much yet she gave all she had to those around her. When I think of how she was viewed as less than because of her skin color, I am saddened to think about how we are still enduring this same racial hatred over 100 years later.

Yes, I acknowledge that we had a Black president for eight years. I also am keen on the fact that his very existence in the highest position in the nation caused white backlash. To add insult to injury, we elected the first Black/Indian woman vice president, Kamala Devi Harris. This backlash is not new. After the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the ratification of the 13th Amendment that ended slavery; the 14th Amendment that deemed Black people as US citizens, and the 15th Amendment allowing voting by all men, white people in the country essentially decided this was an affront to their hold of power over former slaves.

Many were against Reconstruction (1865–77). The goal of Reconstruction was supposed to assist freed enslaved people in gaining equal rights and the ability to be self sufficient. Unfortunately, many communities became too wealth and too independent to the chagrin of white people. This ushered in the white backlash and the destruction of several Black towns such as in 1873 Colfax, Louisiana, and Wilmington, NC in 1898 where approximately up to 300 Black residents were killed. More information here.

I am certain my grandma never would have dreamed that her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and now great-great-grandchildren are still navigating a country where over 74 million people are blatant racists and continue to feel that our Black lives do not matter. We’ve seen the blatant violence of police officers in the killing of Sandra Bland and recently the murder of Breonna Taylor. The abuse of Black girls by racist school police officers who man-handle and body slam them for no reason other than to intimidate and harm them.

The questions still remain:

Have we progressed when we had a president who applauded and cheered on white supremacist groups?

Have we progressed as a nation when we consider the white nationalists siege on the United States Capitol in broad daylight?

Have we really overcome when elected senators believe that (t)rump’s impeachment trial is unconstitutional?

When I think about my grandmother and her hope for our future, I am saddened that we are having to continue to convince others that our lives matter.

This causes me great distress and makes me wonder how far have we really come?