Another brilliant article by Isabel Wilkerson. She is absolutely right that millions of African Americans escaped the old Jim Crow in the South only to be confronted by a new, pernicious form of racial bias and oppression in the North. This history, though often forgotten, is dramatically evident in the recent uprisings. I disagree, however, that the South offers a model of hope for the North, particularly if you take a look at states like Louisiana - which is the most punitive state not only in the country but the world) - and when you see the Civil War raging on throughout the South in so many forms (from the color-coded partisan battle lines to new voting restrictions, etc). But there IS absolutely reason to hope - not because the South is now willing to face injustice head on as she suggests -- but because the dream of dignity, freedom and equality for all has not died and will not die. Thats why I have hope. Despite the horror of it all - slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration - we, as a people, continue to rise up and defy all odds just when all seems lost. To borrow and adapt the words of Maya Angelou: And still like dust we rise, we rise. And still like dust we rise.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 02:31:21 +0000
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