The rise of the second Trump regime has included unprecedented assaults against African American culture and history.
Information about famous African Americans has been made less prominent on the Arlington Cemetery website. Gen. Charles Quinton Brown, an African American and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was replaced by a lower-ranking white general. Carla Hayden, the first African American Librarian of Congress, was fired without cause.
Why is all this happening in the wake of Trump’s victorious return to power? It reflects a deliberate effort to reshape the historical narrative of American history. The problematic narrative that is re-emerging promotes segregated white spaces and the revival of race-based power structures and practices.
As a student of history, I have never witnessed such a direct assault on African American history and culture. It is as if the clocks of time have reversed and we are living in 1950s America with cruel Jim Crow laws that separate white spaces from black spaces.
Trump’s infamous “Make America Great Again” slogan is nothing more than a not-so-subtle call for the revival of a pre-Civil Rights era America, where white dominance and control were normative in the American ethos. It was a time when everyone knew their place and role in a society divided by race and oppression.
Because of Trump’s rapid consolidation of power in the first four months of his presidency, it has been difficult to fight the flagrant constitutional and arguably illegal actions he has taken on many fronts. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed challenging the myriad of executive orders that ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.
Thousands of government workers have been fired without cause. Vital agencies essential to the flourishing of all Americans have been shuttered.
In the face of such historical assaults on civil rights and the liberties of all Americans, it is important to remember the founding principles of American society. These are beautifully articulated in the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Indeed, we are all created equal and entitled to unquestionable rights regarding the protection of our bodies from undue harm, the enjoyment of freedom and the pursuit of human flourishing and well-being. Let us fight for these rights, remembering that even presidential power is subject to the consent of the governed.
As a Christian leader, I am encouraged in these turbulent times that evil will not always prevail. Psalm 37 reminds us the evil do not last forever in the world:
Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Indeed, evil will not always flourish. In the end, righteousness and the good will prevail.
May the Lord bless America and guide our nation in the paths of righteousness and peace. May we be a beacon of light and democracy to the world.
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Donald E. Williams is a United Methodist pastor and Duke University graduate. He completed his doctorate at Duke University in 2022 and is the author of An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Aristotelian Eudaimonia and Christian Discipleship: A Thomistic Perspective, Wipf and Stock Publishers.
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