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Loftin: Slavery pain won’t fade away

Fighting in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., where white nationalists faced counter-protestors at a planned protest, billed as a “Unite the Right” rally, Aug. 12, 2017. The demonstration, which both organizers and critics had said was the largest gathering of white nationalists in recent years, turned violent almost immediately; a car that plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters later left at least one person dead and at least 19 injured. (Matt Eich/The New York Times)
Fighting in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., where white nationalists faced counter-protestors at a planned protest, billed as a “Unite the Right” rally, Aug. 12, 2017. The demonstration, which both organizers and critics had said was the largest gathering of white nationalists in recent years, turned violent almost immediately; a car that plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters later left at least one person dead and at least 19 injured. (Matt Eich/The New York Times) Fighting in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., where white nationalists faced counter-protestors at a planned protest, billed as a “Unite the Right” rally, Aug. 12, 2017. The demonstration, which both organizers and critics had said was the largest gathering of white nationalists in recent years, turned violent almost immediately; a car that plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters later left at least one person dead and at least 19 injured. (Matt Eich/The New York Times)

By Michael Loftin 5 min read

photo Michael Loftin

More than 150 years have passed since 11 Southern states – including my native North Carolina – seceded from the union, leading to a civil war that claimed more lives than any other American war.

Although former slaves were freed, the years following the war were calamitous for generations of African Americans. They included the passage of post-Reconstruction “Jim Crow” laws condemning blacks to second-class citizenship, the vestiges of which persist even to this day.

Even worse was the violence perpetrated against those who were targets of virulent racism, including lynchings, bombings and other crimes, much of which was committed by Ku Klux Klan gangs. It is probably significant that their attire, oddly, included pointed head coverings.

But the Kluckers had their enablers. There were countless acts of racism enshrined in state laws: The segregation of schools, hotels, restaurants and other public venues. The denial of voting rights through intimidation or bureaucratic cruelty. Discrimination in housing and employment.

Well, some might say, thank God that’s no longer the case. Actually, the problem will always be with us. Why? Because racism is sin, and it is manifesting itself today in more subtle but equally repellent ways.