It was the fog of early morning when I caught the edge of a headline. ‘Trump Announces National Apology for America’s Legacy of Slavery.’ In that liminal zone between sleeping and waking, I thought I read an official letter printed as a full-page ad in papers across the country….
Dear Fellow Americans,
I write to you today, your 45th President representing the institution of our governing democracy, which, in turn, represents all of us. May this letter mark the start of a long and essential conversation we must commit to, now and into our future, as a nation.
I have been sitting for many days (in my bunker) with a heavy heart watching the urgent cries for love, justice and accountability in every aspect of our society and the systems that support it. People of all ages and races have gathered in our streets, day after day and in solidarity, asking for the many institutions intended to protect us, finally and without hesitation, to change. Not tomorrow, not next week, but now.
In truth, we have failed to meet these basic principles of love, justice and accountability. In spite of the vision of this country’s framers to create a society where ‘all men (and women) are created equal,’ we have allowed ourselves to live with an embedded hypocrisy for over 200 years. As abolitionist Thomas Day wrote in 1776 in response to the removal of the anti-slavery language in the final version of the Declaration of Independence, "If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves."
On behalf of this federal government, we offer the highest level apology for this country’s inability to face the truth of our crimes against humanity, starting with our failure to recognize the rights and sovereignty of the indigenous people of this land, followed quickly by at least 250 years of the relentless enslavement of native peoples from Africa, followed still by decades of officially sanctioned discrimination, imprisonment and isolation of so many of our citizens with a darker skin color. Ours has been a grim history of painful racism and this shadow, through our neglect and denial, demands full witness and accountability.
We recognize no written word can possibly account for the harms this nation must fully own. Though it can, and must start with such an attempt. For there is no future for us as a country without a clear and committed apology, starting first to our Black American brothers and sisters.
Every Black American must know that this country -- a country they and their ancestors imagined, built and cared for -- acknowledges an immeasurable debt. Every Black American must know that while this country may have abolished slavery over 150 years ago, we fully acknowledge that we have continued to marginalize, disempower, disenfranchise, abuse and murder without cause people of African descent. And every Black American must know that the trauma this history has left behind is not theirs alone to carry, but must be carried by each and every one of us.
When we, as a country, heal and reconcile the harms we carry from such a legacy and see our thriving as dependent on that of our Black American neighbors, friends, and family, we may finally have a chance to rebuild as a society of care, regardless of any superficial differentiation amongst us. Beneath these skins, all of us warm-blooded creatures, we love our children, cannot survive without physical touch and connection, and want to live a life of purpose.
So let this letter written here in (underneath) the Oval Office, this 2nd day of June 2020, launch a movement across our states, cities, and towns to embrace this national apology and explore where it might take us next. There is so much work to do. And yet, we must begin it here, with the simplest and clearest of acts.
Yours Truly,
Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America.
However unlikely these words may sound coming from our orange-tinged POTUS, may they be planted in our (and his!) consciousness and watch what happens.
Love, Lisa