America, the no gray nation

Black Lives Matter, Covid19, Conspiracy theories, Me Too, Riots, Sex Rings, Trump… For the past six or seven months, America has been, once again, on the world limelight.
It is commonly purported that humankind and Americans, particularly, tend to come together in unison during a crisis. But 2020, turns out to go down memory lane as one of America’s greatest divide. The year of the rise and fall. The year freedom of speech was sent to the Emergency Room with its vital organs being critically wounded.
To any proven observer, there has never been a time in history when the truth has been relativized as now, creating a great divide on opinions and the cleavage keeps on deepening.

This year, being an election year in the United States of America, an election which is termed as the mother of all elections, impose on us the need to pause and reflect. Mixed with ingredients of political agendas, the current crisis in America, rather than uniting us, has created an even deeper division. It is either black or white. There is no gray zone. You are either a Trump supporter or not. To be of a different opinion has never been as dangerous as it is nowadays in America. It is either my truth or no truth at all.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. So, we are regrouped, attracted by our own desires to be appeased by a sifted drug upon which we daily find solace. Glued together, we find warmth in our echo chambers, prisoners constantly fed off our own version of the truth. Drunk, anxious, and satiated, we oppose and fiercely fight anything that does not align with our truth, or simply brand it as a conspiracy theory.

What happened to our famous rhetoric of thinking beyond the box? Do we even recognize that we are in a box? Our opinions are shaped by the constant media pundits and social media algorithms that make sure you and I are never going to get anywhere closer to each other or even be free to think, free to speak, free to live. We no longer agree to disagree but rather you either agree with me, otherwise, I totally disagree with you.

America, the land of the free. Are we freely thinking beyond what we read and watch? If we cannot, are we allowing others to look beyond our own box? We recognize ourselves as a country with the freedom of speech if and only if the speech goes in parallel to our version of the truth. We are ready to crucify whoever does not agree with us and hang them publicly as traitors of our common values. But can we really speak of common values when my opinion will either be judged as pertaining or supporting the Right or else the Left? No middle line? No standing on the fence?

Some may say the contrary, trying to prove me wrong citing the case of riots around the country, which are rather a proof of unity as we saw people of all skin colors marching on the streets condemning racism in America and demanding justice. Taking you back to an article I wrote back in the days (I can’t breathe, what is next for the movement?), talking of the risk of any social movement without appropriate leadership and a clearly defined vision pursued and values to be preserved, has consequences that are not so often premeditated. And therefore, no one will ever tell us when we have reached the destination.

Remember, injustice to one is no justice to any. When the victim retaliates in the name of justice, the cycle of violence has no expected end. Because violence, even when perpetrated in the name of social justice, is as bitter as a seed whose fruits we will have to taste soon or later.

In the midst of the chaos, we seem to have lost the values of a democracy whose image we have portrayed and even imposed on the world. A democracy that is seemingly based on the voice of the majority without minimizing that of the minority. What about those opinions which are being silenced today? At the end of the day, everything and anything around you and me can either be termed racist, as false, depending on the version of truth one has chosen to base his opinion upon. Hereto, your truth, and my truth cannot stand together.

We are all embarked on this race of truths. Tensions are high, the pressure is mounting. The closer we get to the finish line, the crazier and less tolerant we tend to become. It is no longer about a win-win situation but rather a win-lose. Yes, because if I win it is legit. If I do not win, it is you to blame. I cannot and will not admit defeat and so will neither of the members of my bubble surrender their will and wish.

A popular African proverb states that “Milk and honey are of different colors, but they share the same house peacefully”.

Maybe it is time that leaders of opinion, religious groups, influencers, media personalities in the United States of America sit and think through the contents of their opinions and views and see how these are affecting and influencing the direction this country is going to take in the coming days and months. Are we, through our own version of the truth, spreading love or hate? Are we building or destroying? Are we binding or severing? Are we healing or hurting?

And by the way, have you realized that CNN is to President Donald Trump what Fox News is to Joe Biden?

Prince M.