By Dr. E. Faye Williams
So much negative goes on each day. We don’t recover from one thing before we are faced with another.
A few days ago in Washington, D.C., many of us got up and went through our morning routine without incident. Before we had breakfast or that first cup of coffee, the breaking news came across the television that we had yet another crisis. Somebody had chosen the area near the Library of Congress and the Cannon House Office Building, where I once worked, to park and make a bomb threat. Naturally, this set off a massive police presence, yet another disruption of staff trying to get their work done, and finally an evacuation of the buildings. Capitol Hill police were called out once again, and they have not yet recovered from the trauma of Jan. 6, but here we go again.
At the same time, people all over are trying to manage life with the coronavirus still growing when we not long ago thought we were conquering it. Many are still struggling with the loss of family and friends. Now, we’re busy trying to get students back in school safely while some governors are defying logic and working against the efforts of school districts to create a safe environment for students and teachers by requiring the wearing of masks. We are finding that hypocrites like Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who’ve put up every roadblock possible while having contracted the virus themselves — but they can afford the best of treatment while they are OK with talking people out of getting the vaccination so needed to prevent others from getting the virus or at least softening the blow if they do get it.
As we try to rescue our democracy from the damage done by many Republicans, too many are spending their time harassing President Joe Biden, who is trying to get our nation out of Afghanistan. This is a time when our president and our military need our support, but too many people are on television acting like they know how to do this job better.
We’ve had white supremacy all of our lives, but instead of equality, things in that area are getting worse. This time, the problems are not found only in the South. The problem is nationwide! People feel perfectly OK expressing the meanest, most hateful behaviors ever seen. Yes, we’ve always had meanness, but Trump and his followers definitely gave people permission to openly be their worst selves.
I went to the grocery store recently. I purchased bathroom tissue, paper towels and a bag of salad greens. Imagine my surprise when the bill was $52!
Add to all of the above, and you’ll find voter suppression as we’ve not seen since we, Black people, fought for and gained the right to vote. In Fulton County, Georgia, where everything went well and was audited with no glitches, Republicans are trying to take away the right of people in the county to manage their own election!
Recently I was in Birmingham, Alabama, and I witnessed the desecration of a monument to a civil rights giant, Bishop Calvin Woods, while learning about a law in the state that protects Confederate statues — but not civil rights monuments. Something is definitely wrong!
Don’t forget the tragedy in Haiti from the earthquake. Many of us would like to help, but we can’t seem to get our own nation straight. If we ever needed God’s intervention, we need it now because too many in our nation have lost their way. We need a miracle right now to set us on the right path where honesty, sincerity and caring about others mean something.
Dr. E. Faye Williams is national chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. Contact her via www.nationalcongressbw.org.
