“The contradictions between these two founding arrivals–the Mayflower and the White Lion–would lead to the deadliest war in American history, fought over how much of our nation would be enslaved and how much would be free. They would lead us to spend a century seeking to expand democracy abroad, beckoning other lands to “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” while violently suppressing democracy at home for the descendants of those involuntary immigrants who arrived on ships like the White Lion. They would lead to the elections–back-to-back–of the first Black president and then of a white nationalist one”. This is a series of six discussion guide for small groups. It is based on the book by the same title.
400 Souls: Arrival (1619-1739) We discuss the arrival of those involuntary immigrants and the evolution of the thinking, customs, policies, and laws that evolved that slowly took away any chance that the labor force had at establishing their freedom; we look at he devolution of a people to chattel.
Revolution In the1700s Europe experienced an intellectual movement called the Age of Enlightenment. During this time, leading thinkers started relying more on science than religion, which advanced the understanding of the Rights of Man as well as natural world. This thinking created a conflict between liberal democracy (all men are created equal) and an economy dependent on having men as property. This was when the concept of race was adopted into the culture from the scientific community. Race became the social construct used to explain unequal economic, health, and political status – outcomes stemming from racial differences rather than policies. (adapted from Four Hundred Souls)
Expansion and Civil War In the last year of the Civil War, Lincoln publicly reflected in his second inaugural address that both sides “read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other.” Similarly, the case has been argued that the War Between the States did not start in 1861 at Fort Sumter but rather was a natural consequence of the compromises made in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
Reconstruction & Jim Crow Imagine that after WW2 there were no trials for treason or war crimes; no leaders executed or jailed. Imagine that the military presence quickly evaporated and the local governments allowed to re-establish as they had before. Imagine that the Swastika was not banned but rather flown as a badge of honor. Imagine that monuments were built, roads and schools named after Hitler, Rommel, Goebbels, and Eichmann. Imagine that the persecuted minorities were still mistreated: the concentration camps were gone but laws and policy clustered targeted peoples in ghettos; the Yellow Stars vanished but other methods to segregate and demean appeared. Imagine that when the persecuted managed to use their vote to elect representatives, the lives of those representatives and their families were in imminent danger. Imagine that when they built successful businesses and communities that those were burnt to the ground. Imagine the gas chambers vanquished only to be replaced by the bullet, the rope, and human bonfire.
Thankfully, one has to stretch the imagination to visualize those events in post-war Germany. Unfortunately, one only has to know a little history to see the parallelism to the events that occurred in the United States after the Civil War.
Civil Rights “The post-war era marked a period of unprecedented energy against the second class citizenship accorded to African Americans in many parts of the nation. Resistance to racial segregation and discrimination with strategies such as civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, marches, protests, boycotts, “freedom rides,” and rallies received national attention as newspaper, radio, and television reporters and cameramen documented the struggle to end racial inequality. There were also continuing efforts to legally challenge segregation through the courts.” (Library of Congress: Local Gov Collections)
“Post Racial America” In his farewell speech, President Obama said, “After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America. Such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. For race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. I’ve lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were ten, or twenty, or thirty years ago – you can see it not just in statistics, but in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum. But we’re not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do.”
My Thoughts and the Thoughts of Others 