Here in the United States, we are in the first few days of the new presidential administration under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Based on my quick, unscientific survey of social media posts in my circles, it seems many people have said “good riddance” to the old administration in a way that seems to imply everything will soon be fine and back to normal.
What I haven’t seen enough of are honest evaluations of how we got to a place where it was largely OKAY to deny human rights to groups of people who make up the majority of our human population: Blacks, Indigenous (Native Americans), the disabled, asylum seekers, immigrants, and Dreamers, Muslims, and Queer folx, most notably trans* people and specifically Black trans womyn.
We shouldn’t want to “get back to normal” when that normal was a hate-filled state ruled by the greed of capitalism rather than compassion and equity. We owe it to each other, to ourselves, and to our grandchildren to build socio-economic systems that nurture and support the physical health and safety, and the emotional wellbeing of all beings on this planet of ours.
How do we break down the systems of oppression so that there is no longer one ruling class, so that we can truly be a country that nurtures and encourages “the pursuit of happiness” . . . “with liberty and justice for all”? Of our currently established systems, what must we break down and re-build from the foundation up, and what needs only to be repaired?
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Here are a few essays on related topics:
Obama Didn’t Close the Racial Wealth Divide. Can Biden?
Dr. King called moderation the “great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom.” Biden should heed that warning today.
Going a Little Unhinged: Some Raw, Informal Thoughts About Presidential Politics
White people in the United States have always been held to different, lower standards.
The Federal Student Loan System Is Catastrophically Failed
The next President can and must erase them, start over.
Government by Skill or Luck?
There are so many things the authors of our Constitution could not have foreseen.
Why Presidential Pardons Need To Go Away
Donald Trump abuses his pardon power to protect his friends, we can’t let this go on.
The Crack in America’s Pillars
This country has always been in shambles, but the capitol building riots confirmed this fact.
What a New Administration Means for Immigrants and the American Dream
As Joe Biden prepares to become the 46th president of the United States, many people wonder how immigration will be handled differently under this new administration.
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