Over the next handful of days, millions of thoughtful and responsible people will go to the polls to cast ballots for many things, among them electing the president of the United States. I wish there had been two viable and highly qualified candidates running for this office, because that is what the country deserved to have.
It would have been a great delight to hear from two candidates who were presenting a way of life all of us could imagine, even though we preferred one over the other. You will recall that in most past elections we believed truth, integrity and commitment to the ideals of democracy had to be held at the center of our political process and supported, even though the ways that support was given could be quite diverse. You know during those days, Democrats and Republicans presented visions for the country designed to make the nation stronger and to respect the legacy left by the ones who came before them.
Catherine Meeks
I can scarcely believe as I think back on the days of Eisenhower, Reagan, McCain and Gen. Colin Powell how I am much more appreciative of them today than I was during their lifetime — because I had not lived through the destruction of the Republican Party that currently exists with all of its layers of decay and disarray.
When I think back about those leaders with whom I disagreed, I realize I knew they were not attempting to destroy the country. I realize today how much that was a time to appreciate because, at the end of the day, many of our shared values were respected and kept as guiding principles for the way to conduct business in a democratic society as opposed to what we are witnessing in this era of Trump.
Today, as we approach this election, we find ourselves facing a time when one candidate continuously voices disrespect and disdain for basic human decency. A person who seems to have no connection to a set of core values that most of us respect without much thought. The simple things such as respecting people who serve in the military and are wounded or killed, or people with disabilities, women, immigrants and refugees, poor people and anyone who does not agree with him.
Along with this is the lack of respect for the truth and the willingness to use lies to achieve personal agendas without regard for the harm that is caused by such behavior. There are many other things that make Donald Trump an unsatisfactory candidate, but these core principles are what most thoughtful, mostly sane human beings find to be the best way to conduct normal everyday life and it is difficult to understand the way in which the country has been wooed into such a large portion of it being willing to lay those core values aside.
While it will take social and political scientists, psychologists, theologians and other thought leaders decades to understand and articulate this era when the Republican Party allowed itself to be kidnapped by Trump, it seems the energy he brought to the table found welcoming space.
“Some of the welcome came from the deep commitment we have in this country to whiteness.”
Some of the welcome came from the deep commitment we have in this country to whiteness. The paradigm of white supremacy and patriarchal constructs to manage women have been challenged by people of color and women enough that there is real fear we might be turning the page and moving on to a better way to live together that is not based on hierarchies of human value used to justify oppression.
The white male’s fear of losing the power to oppress seems to be quite alive and well. Trump speaks to that fear and has built his overall strategy for success on it.
Thus, time has run out for thoughtful, caring folks to continue to speak about being undecided. What makes it so difficult for you to decide? If you are white, does it have to do with race? If you are male, does it have to do with gender? Because it cannot have to do with qualifications. There is no comparison between Harris and Trump when it comes to being qualified. What is it you are looking for in the person who leads the country for the next four years? Is that desire real or is it an excuse to alleviate the need to face racial and gender prejudice?
The hard truth is that many white men and women cannot imagine that a nonwhite person can be the president and there are men of color who cannot imagine a woman can fill that role.
Actually, although I regret realizing it, there are some women who cannot imagine it either.
But this is the 21st century and the energy has shifted. Many of us know the racism and sexism of the past has to go. The resistance to this way of thinking and behaving is going to continue to grow, and we have no intentions of ever going back to the imaginary “good old days” of repression of women and people of color.
Time has run out, and it is time to shift the energy. It is time to choose.
Catherine Meeks was given the President Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement and Service Award in August 2022; was listed by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of the 500 women to watch in Georgia in 2022; retired as the Clara Carter Acree Distinguished Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies at Mercer University; is an author, community and wellness activist and mid\wife to the soul. She previously served as founding executive director of Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing and currently serves as founder and executive director of the Turquoise and Lavender Institute for Transformation and Healing. She lives in Atlanta.
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