This Ain’t Your Last Centuries

I recently watched a couple of American Experience programs, “The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi’s Schools” and “The Busing Battleground.” The first program was about school segregation in the South, and the second was about school segregation in the North, namely in Boston, Massachusettes. Both issues took place in the 1970s, with roots of the problem steeped in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. What struck me about these two episodes is the turmoil of that period in American history and how much nothing has changed for the better. If anything, America is regressing. I could not help but think that sh*t really hit the fan in those decades. Indeed, I wondered if today’s problems are any worse than during the counterculture revolution of the 1960s. The short answer: Not yet, but it will be. The early 2020s are equivalent to the 1850s before the Civil War and the 1950s before the Civil Rights movement. The burning question begs, What is the forthcoming movement to break America in two? I submit the movement is American Fascism! To be sure, the three eras are not entirely the same. I mean, we haven’t had a president assassinated (à la Lincoln and JFK) in the present time — yet. Nor have we had civil rights advocates and politicians assassinated (à la MLK and RFK) during this emerging American Fascism movement — yet. We do have one first: An insurrection led by a former president and the leader of the RepubliKKKlan Party, who also has a 50-50 chance of winning again. But the past does inform what we can expect. At the same time, we haven’t reached the tumult of the 1850s or the 1960s — yet — but we are just one flashpoint (à la the Fort Sumter attack or Brown v. Board ruling) away. Welcome to stupid America!