Reposting My Most Read Blog--"Professor of the Jungle"
September 27, 2022
The Battle to Preserve Our Democracy--We Are in this Together--The Talk I Hoped President Biden Would Give
September 6, 2022
President Biden spoke truth to the Nation in his prime time address on Thursday night. And he needed to speak the truth that our democracy is under attack. He was genuine and passionate and his commitment to our country, never in doubt, shone brightly.
However, it was not the talk I hoped he'd give. It is unlikely to have convinced people who are not already convinced of the very real threat to democracy which faces us Why? Because it did not go nearly far enough in drawing on the common strands of commitment to our Nation's ideals which unite the great majority of Americans, across party, age, gender, race and ethnicity.
Here in short form and very incomplete and inadequate words is what I hoped he might say:
"My fellow Americans--Democrats, Republicans, Independents and whatever else you might call yourselves--I address myself tonight as the President of each and every one of you.
I came to this office because I believe with all my heart and all my soul in this country; because I believe in the people of this country; because I believe in you.
I will speak frankly to you tonight, sharing the truth as I see it of where we stand as a Nation and what are the opportunities and challenges ahead of us.
I speak to you at a time of great challenge: As you know, we face historically high levels of inflation, the lingering impact of Covid, Russia's unprovoked and cruel attack on Ukraine, and democracy under attack in countries ranging from Russia to China to Turkey and to several of our Latin America friends.
However, the greatest challenges we face is in our country. These challenges go the heart of who we are as a people; they concern the health of our democracy and the trust we have in one another to preserve it.
Make no mistake. Our democracy is under serious threat today. When people, led by Donald Trump, deny the legitimacy of elections, elections shown to have been carried out correctly under bi-partisan examination; when groups of people and prominent leaders threaten outright violence if future election results don't conform to their desires; when people are encouraged to barn storm the capital of our country in order to overturn the election and when senior leaders campaign for office on the promise of doing the same thing in the next election, we have a real threat.
We dare not wink at this threat or pretend it doesn't exist or dismiss it as something we don't need to worry about. Denials like this have preceded the demise of democracy in other countries throughout history.
President Trump's unwillingness to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election, and that of his extreme followers, undercuts the very fabric of our democracy. It must be vigorously denounced for what it is. A fabricated and cancerous lie, an assault on democracy.
I want to make it perfectly clear: I am not suggesting that the majority of Republicans don't share the deep commitment to the precious value of democracy and the need to fight against any threat to it. I believe the majority of Republicans share this conviction.
We have had different views on key issues across party and other lines for time immemorial in this country. Those differences, when debated, openly, often fiercely, have usually served us well. That will never change. Nor should it. We will continue to have these differences. On women's right to choose balanced with the right of an unborn child. On gun regulations that reduce the tragic loss of life we see today without limiting the rights of legitimate gun owners. On the pace of attacking climate change, just to name a few.
In advancing these necessary and important debates, all of us, those of us on the Right, Left and middle of the political spectrum, must beware of allowing legitimate and important policy difference morph into such moral and angry condemnation of the "other" that we don't listen to one another's point of view and the reasons for it. Without that we will never find our way to the balanced positions which if not perfect will lead to progress and a better world.
We need to recognize that with all our differences and our diversity, both anchors to our unique strength as a Nation, we are the beneficiaries of a great land and a great heritage--a heritage committed to the high ideals expressed so cogently expressed in our Declaration of Independence, ideals which if not fully met have guided us to progress.
I firmly believe we have the opportunity to make our country and our world better for those that follow us, provided we never forget that we are in this together and must and can work together to make life better for all. And that underpinning it all, we do what is necessary to preserve our democracy from the threats it faces today.
The past year with all its challenges, which I in no way minimize, shows we can work together. Science has stepped forward as hospitals, health care workers and many others launched vaccines to combat Covid in record time. Bi-partisan support has led to the biggest infrastructure bill in seventy years. Though it did not have the bi-partisan support I hoped for, we passed legislation providing the biggest advance in fighting climate change in our history and the biggest expansion of health care benefits for Americans since President Obama.
And it is not just government working together. Corporations and other organizations have stepped forward with renewed commitment to tackle the vestiges of systemic racism.
My friends, my confidence in the future is based on two things: our history which has seen us rise to the occasion when faced with the biggest challenges, whether that be war or economic depression or a decline in the cohesive bonds of trust in one another. And the other--the most important thing-- is our nature as a collective body of individuals, of all of us as a people. A people that with all our differences, all our disagreements, find ourselves bound together in ultimately appreciating the precious and, yes, rare freedom and opportunity which our democracy affords us. And from that recognition the unquenchable commitment by each one of us to fight to preserve that democracy, no matter what. Because we just wouldn't have it any other way.
Democracy Is Hard to Achieve, Hard to Retain and Easy To Lose--We In The United States Are At Risk of Losing It
August 24, 2022
When Will We Ever Learn
August 10, 2022
Preserving the Basic Right to Vote Today--A Timeless Battle as Illuminated by an Imagined Story From My Son, David Pepper
July 24, 2022
My son, David, is a student of history and a writer of fiction and politics, including his most recent book "Laboratories of Autocracy". David has been consumed (as we all have) by the history of the violent denial of rights (including to vote) for Blacks following the brief period of Reconstruction. He has channeled what this experience might have looked like through the imagined experience of a Black Southern teen born in the mid-1880.I am proud to share this for your consideration in the belief that it frames this terrible chapter of history in a powerfully meaningful and personal way.******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************"Often, I think about the lives led by those who came before us. Perhaps due to my fiction writing, I try to put myself into an individual’s shoes.And one “life” I can’t stop thinking about is that of a 16-year old Black Southern teen in the mid-1880s.Let’s imagine what his life looked like then, & what it became.In the 1880s, this teen sees a world where more Black voters are registered in Louisiana than White voters. He sees large numbers of Black voters registered AND voting in other southern states as well. Black turnout in the 1880 Presidential election is 61%.And with this high level of Black participation in elections, this 16-year old grows up seeing Black men (not women yet) serving in office at almost every level. We’re talking mayors and sheriffs, state reps and judges, even State Supreme Court justices, house speakers, lieutenant governors and members of Congress.I would never want to understate the racism and challenges this 16-year old faces in daily life, but when it comes to participation in the nation’s democracy, things at least look to be moving in a good direction.And if he studies his recent history, this teen also is buoyed by the response of President Grant when white supremacists first tried to stop this new Black participation. Grant brought the full force of the federal government to bear to stop those efforts, including tackling terrorist violence that reared its ugly head when this teen was a toddler.But as our 16 year old ages just a few years, things change.As he and other Black voters come of age and try to vote or register in the late 1880s and 1890s, they begin to encounter a growing maze of rules and obstacles that keep more of them from doing so. (And the reason given for the new obstacles is that Black voters like him are either not intelligent enough to vote or serve in government, or that they are so intelligent they have figured out how to game the system through “voter fraud” — so he knows these reasons don’t add up)To give an example, in his 20s, this young man might’ve been required to answer a complex set of challenging questions as he tries to register. And if he fails he can’t vote.But his white neighbor who is less literate than he is, and also fails….he still gets to register because his grandfather was registered to vote in 1864, when our young man’s grandfather wasn’t (for obvious reasons).This young man also encounters other obstacles to voting (new taxes he can’t afford, party primaries he’s barred from voting in because he’s black, etc.), but the most real is of course the specter of violence that Black voters increasingly face when they try to participate. And the sad reality that after such violence happens, none of the perpetrators are ever held accountable even though people know exactly who they are.And this young man of course begins asking himself…why should I try and take a test I know I will fail, or pay that cumulative tax I can’t afford, when I also risk my own safety (or that of my new family) by doing so? So he probably stops trying to vote in the way his father and grandfather did.And his teenage confidence that the federal government will protect him? After 1890, that also fades, when Congress fails to pass legislation that would’ve repeated the fierce, Grantian resistance to these renewed threats to Black participation. (Yes, it dies by way of the filibuster).And over the next decade, without that federal support, his memory of the 1880s fades. In its place, for the same reason he doesn’t, no one around our 20-something is registered, or votes. They are essentially barred by law, and if they try to, they risk violence, or unemployment or other consequences for them or their families. And by now, the federal government has walked away. They are alone, no longer part of America’s democracy.It’s so bad, that by the turn of the century, the 128,000 registered Black voters in Louisiana falls to the low 1000s—by 1906, 1,342. By 1910. Only 730! In S Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, similar declines. From 300,000 collectively to around 3,000 in each state by 1900.So when he’s in his 30s, unlike when he was 16, no Black man he knows votes. While White folks all around, even the ones who couldn’t pass that test, always vote. So of course their candidates always win.Around the time he is 40, even presidential elections pass by with hardly any Black involvement. (2%, versus the 60% when he was 16).But far more than just not voting, the results of that lack of voting are everywhere.First, all those Black officials he grew up seeing all around him, at every level…by the time he’s in his 30s, they’re all gone. From local office. From judgeships. From statehouses. From CongressSecond, as a result, every year new racist laws target every aspect of his life, & every Black person he knows. Rules that weren’t there when he was a child, or a teen. And since he and they can’t vote, they can’t change those laws. And whenever the most educated people he knows go to court & challenge them, court after court says that despite clear words suggesting otherwise, there is nothing in the law or Constitution that requires them to change a thing. So they’re stuck.Worse, in his 30s, 40s & later, this man watches as the most racist & vile of those who created this new Southern apartheid system are rewarded for their hate, rising to become Govs, Congressmen & Senators in Washington, treated as national leaders by politicians all across the country—including presidents. And that hateful handiwork—work that forever altered the course of his life—is celebrated as the names of its architects begin to appear on buildings & bridges & statues in town after town. Even in Washington.If this man reaches his 60s and 70s, he does start to see small signs of change. His and others’ grandkids who fought in WW2 come back expecting more. Demanding more. He cheers on Jackie Robinson when he enters baseball. He reads that some of those lawsuits start to succeed, on paper at least, even if he doesn’t see any changes in his town.But even these feel small, since unless this man lives into his 90s or more, from his mid-20s on, this man will likely never see a local Black official—when they were present at all levels when he was 16. And he for the most part will never see any change to the Jim Crow laws that upended his world when he was in his teens, 20s and 30s.Unless he makes it to close to 100, he will die not knowing if the new generation of young people demanding change will achieve it, or face the angry backlash, violence and lack of federal support he a century before.And while he may have achieved personal happiness and meaning in many other ways, THAT is the trajectory of his public life as an American.Now, I hope you see why I can’t stop thinking about this man’s life.I would love to talk to him, and hear more about the forgotten and intentionally erased history of that original world he grew up in. I would love to hear him explain what the failure to fight for a full democracy back in the 1880s and 1890s did to him and the world he knew. I imagine he’d remind us that what happened was not inevitable. But was a product of poor decisions along the way. Not just by the racists and White supremacists. But by the others. Who at key moments chose not to fight. Or chose to compromise to get other things done, while he paid the price. People who took for granted that progress would just continue.Why else do I think so much about this 16-year old from the 1880s?Because I think every day about the 16-year old girls & boys of today. Or slightly older. Or my 8- and 5-yr olds. Who grew up in a country where certain rights and processes felt guaranteed, and generally have been taken for granted.But how recent events have shown, as in the late 1800s, that taking any of them for granted turns out to be a mistake.And how, like our 1880s teenager, their lives will be shaped by the actions we take in the next few years—for the better, if we revive the democracy and core rights we have taken for granted. Or for the dramatically worse, if we let democracy collapse in front of our eyes.We have so much to learn from the Black Southern teenager from the 1880s. Let’s learn it all".
The Incredible Challenge of Maintaining Focus on the Most Existential Issues
July 23, 2022
I am reminded again and again of how challenging it is for us as people to keep our eye focused on what, in truth, we know to be our most existential issues.
We have a habit of “kicking the can down the road” on issues that, mistakenly, seem distant and remote. Or issues that while recognizing their importance, we see as overwhelming and beyond our ability to resolve or even improve.
I was reminded of this sobering reality the other morning as I read a New York Times article disclosing a recent Sienna poll which revealed that only 1% of U.S. voters regarded the environment as their top priority concern; and even those under the age of 30, the number only increased to 3%. Like many others, the commitment to confront the environment has been diluted by concerns about inflation, crime, COVID, abortion, gun violence and the revealings of the January 6th Congressional Commission.
It has ever been thus. Our memories are short; our focus inevitably shifts to the short term, the immediate. To call the issues such as those I have cited "distractions" would be a disservice to their importance. But if they take our eye off the continued aggressive pursuit of the most existential issues, the world we all live in is going to be in deep trouble.
What are the most important existential issues? Each of us will have our own views. Mine include the environment, nuclear proliferation, systemic racism, enabling every child to grow up with the education and health they deserve and having the courage and wisdom to engage in creating win-win relationships and agreements with countries and individuals with whom we do not agree. Prominent in the last category today is creating a sustainable, peaceful, geo-political relationship between the U.S./West and China.
As we face up to the challenge of maintaining focus and consistent action against the most existential issues, we must at all cost not throw up our hands or engage in unrelenting lamenting.
We need to recognize that the most important existential issues have always required consistent, long-term action by people who believed in change and who were willing to persist and even risk their lives to pursue it. Take the existential issue of slavery. Abolitionists fought that not for months or years but for decades to eradicate it. They did not give up. Don't forget. In the late 18th Century, slavery was a legal institution in every country of the Americas.
A century later is was outlawed in very country except Brazil
Yet, even now, despite all the progress, vestiges of slavery remain. Discrimination based on race and color and systemic racism remains. We cannot give up of the fight for racial equality of opportunity. This is why I and my wife and countless others have been committed to the Mission of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for 25 years.
The existential issues of women's rights (including the right to vote), of recognizing the rights of LGBTQ women and men, and of recognizing the dignity of all people, regardless of their race, gender, education, social class or religion are all ones on which we have made progress-- thanks to brave leadership and to no small amount of good will.
However, they remain with us. We have much more to do.
In truth, most of the existential issues I’ve cited don't lend themselves to a permanent solution. There won’t be any end to the need to address climate change as best we understand it and learn how to best confront it. There won’t be a permanent solution to giving everyone the not only the right to vote but easy access to it. Many issues won’t only not be resolved in our lifetime, they won’t be solved for generations to come. But we cannot allow that to depress us or dilute our efforts to do better. It doesn’t mean we can’t make significant improvements. People have proved they can. Nor does it relieve us of the obligation to do all we can, in our space, and in our time, to advance that improvement in whatever way we can.
I keep coming back to the words of the Talmud: “We are not required to complete the task, but nor are we allowed to desist from pursuing it.” We must continue to do what we believe is right, conscious of the need to keep our minds and hearts open to one another and to new learning.