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)
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.

William Faulkner had it right in his book, Requiem for a Nun: "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

If you doubt that, think about the events earlier this year in Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia. America has a rich history of political warfare but it was stunning to see Ku Klux racists, Nazi wannabes and white nationalists united in a confederation of evil. Unsurprisingly, the confrontation with opponents was at times violent.

In the aftermath, President Trump's dithering responses were astonishing, the most notable claim being that there were "fine people on both sides." Members of his own party were astonished by his equivalence. Thousands of Americans doubtless considered it ignorant, if not stupid.

The point here of course is that without effective leadership, from the Oval Office to city councils, Charlottesville could become a forerunner of more violent confrontations. The volume of such incidents can overwhelm the voices of reason. And where reason dies, the progress achieved in economic fairness and racial comity in this country is further endangered.

I have a close African-American family member who works in the movement for black lives.

Her advocacy, however, is not merely the clichéd "Can't we all just get along?" approach, and for good reason. She has been active in racial reconciliation efforts in the St. Louis area, including the Black Lives Matter movement. But her emphasis is broader, focusing as well on education, economic and social issues. In other words, issues that have been a part of America's history since before the Civil War.

Obvious question: What is the future of our country - at the federal, state and local levels - if leaders, elected or otherwise, fail to confront these issues effectively?

In a New York Times interview this week, Tom Hanks read a passage from "April 1865: The Month That Saved America," author Jay Winik's book about the end of the Civil War:

"And where the abolitionists preached slavery as a violation against the higher law, Southerners angrily countered with their own version of the deity, that it was sanctioned by the Constitution. In the vortex of this debate, once the battle lines were sharply drawn, moderate ground everywhere became hostage to the passions of the two sides. Reason itself had become suspect; mutual tolerance was seen as treachery. Vitriol overcame accommodation. And the slavery issue would not just fade away."

Michael Loftin is a former opinion editor of The Chattanooga Times.

Violence in Charlottesville, Va.

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