THE LEGACY OF CHARLEST

         

         Of all the tragic events that have occurred in my lifetime, I can think of none that is more surreal or that has carried the symbolism or power to change the status quo as has the recent mass killings in Charleston, South Carolina.  The juxtaposition of a young man, boiling with racial hatred sitting with peaceful churchgoers, at a mid week bible study in one the oldest African American Churches in our country is a powerful vision of much that is good and terrible in America.  But the killings did not take place in just any community; Charleston is a small town with the nation’s greatest example of institutional oppression, the old slave market, a few blocks away from the church. A few more blocks brings one to the location of the cannon battery that demolished the Federal Fort Sumter, started the Civil War and tore the country apart, all to preserve slavery.

         While the smiles and good nature of the parishioners almost swayed the killer from his act of indiscriminate carnage, in the end, no kindness could stay his “assassin’s veto”, an attempt to reverse our progress in civil rights and racial equality. This modern day Charles Manson, both who sought to ignite a race war through the murder of innocents, has accomplished just the opposite. No riots, no righteous anger, no lame justifications.  Instead, forgiveness, soul searching and a ground swell of bi-partisan, color blind support.

          Today, African Americans are more empowered than ever to demand unconditional acceptance after yet another unimaginable sacrifice. Following this horror, Caucasian Americans are more likely to give minorities the no strings attached, equal seat at the table that will finally start a new chapter in our history.  The slow march continues: gender equality, sexual equality and now a step closer to racial equality.

         No American should believe that removing the rebel flags and statutory of segregation and suppression from public grounds will be the end of it.  The election of Barack Obama was transformative from the pinnacle of government.  Our youngest Americans and future leaders have grown up knowing only a black President.  The killings in Charleston will be transformative through the nation’s town councils, churches, classrooms and family discussions. The JFK assassination changed our parents, the Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy and Kent State killings changed my generation and Charleston will have a similar impact on this youngest generation as they shape their own version of the American dream.