Popular opinion always sides with the right side of history. Hindsight being 20/20, that’s an easy decision to make. It’s real easy to armchair quarterback the Civil Rights Era, boldly proclaiming from 2020 that you would’ve marched arm in arm in 1965. But the reality is, 2020 is not 1965 and we have no idea the danger our elders faced as the walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
The painful truth is that many sat paralyzed in 1965, overwhelmed by the reality that participation then could literally mean death. Truthfully, their paralysis was justified in 1965. Being vocal and/or visible was a death sentence for many, including the greatest icons of that era. In 1965, one had to weigh the fight for justice against the sanctity of their family and home. Four little girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church speak to that tragic reality in a way that many in today’s world could never comprehend.
To say those that did sit out the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s were justified in their terror is an understatement. It was pragmatism at work. It was simply life, where an alleged whistle in the wrong direction could get a child beaten, dismembered, and dragged to the bottom of a river. There’s a painful contradiction in many shunning those that did sit out, when they didn’t live in those times.
The more painful reality is that many today still sit out, while facing far less severe consequences. Many that have boldly proclaimed they would rather die than be enslaved or that they would never take the disrespect that our ancestors braved. That same crowd that boldly wears the, “I’m not my ancestors, you can catch these hands” T-shirts, while marching in safe spaces, 50 plus years late. They are right about one thing, THEY ARE NOT THEIR ANCESTORS. They don’t have the heart to balance life and death by seeking basic dignities in every facet of survival, such as a water fountain or bathroom.
We are currently living in a time where the Chief Executive blatantly espouses prejudice, racism, bigotry and division in a manner that makes Nixon or Reagan seem tame. Yet, the “I’m not my ancestors” crowd isn’t certain of what to do. We are seemingly more concerned with the open marriages of celebrities, foolish people arguing over their “Constitutional right” to not wear masks, or the never-ending quest to prove who is the most conscious in the room.
One must pose the question, what does any of that matter to progress?
To that same crowd of social media warriors, fighting for the newest and boldest cause that is trending on Twitter, the time for hypotheticals has long passed. In reality, it was an illusion and the time for hypotheticals never arrived. Oppression never ended. Freedom was never fully achieved. So what is the wait about? When is the time right? Should we postpone true liberation longer for a more opportune time? Maybe it will be more convenient in 2030. It’s only another decade away…
But you’re right, YOU ARE NOT YOUR ANCESTORS! They fought. They didn’t wait. They survived atrocities that would seem unbearable to many now who complain of not having fully functional A/C or bad WiFi signal. Our ancestors didn’t get comfortable waiting around for a more opportune time. Our ancestors fought, knowing some would likely die. Our ancestors, and many white allies, had far more heart than many of the social justice warriors of today preaching from digital pulpits in their comfortable homes. Our ancestors died for our comfort, while we sit this one out because “we are too busy” or “we should be social distancing,” as if police violence isn’t as big of a threat as COVID-19.
July 17, 2020, marked the death of two Civil Rights Era GIANTS. As we view their collective legacies, both individually and jointly, we must take pause to determine what is next.
We have let our ancestors down in our comfort. Ironically, that comfort was built on the backs of our ancestors’ sacrifice, not our own. Are we willing to sacrifice our comfort and individual “successes” to push the future of our people forward? John Lewis and C.T. Vivian both did. That was their life work. Collectively, many of us have not. Again, we are NOT our ancestors.
While we complain from our WiFi soapboxes and boldly proclaim what we would’ve done on social media, our community is still engulfed in a deliberate and subversive form of genocide. While we bicker over what #BlackLivesMatter should mean, our children are dying at the hands of police, systemic racism, and at the hands of other children. Yet, we sit those out to stay comfortable. That same comfort we have not truly earned, but instead inherited. So yes, we are NOT our ancestors. They were better men and women.
To those who hypothesize on what they “would’ve done” during slavery or Jim Crow, you no longer have to hypothesize. The time is now. A bigot occupies the Oval Office. This Administration openly works to roll back the social progress of the last 50 years in an attempt to make America what it was in the “good ole days.” You don’t have to hypothesize on what you would’ve done when facing police dogs, fire hoses, clubs, prison, lifelong persecution, or death. You won’t get your hands dirty engaging in GOOD TROUBLE during a time when the consequences of said action pale in comparison. You would’ve sat out the movement of the 50s and 60s because you’re sitting out now. It’s the same mentality of subjugation by appeasement. To you I say, you’re damn right, YOU ARE NOT YOUR ANCESTORS!
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