I Fear for Our Country

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

18 July 16

leveland – I am safe. I’m in a heavily armed city that is preparing to host the nation’s elite. I have press credentials, so the police deployed all over the city will have my back. As I hear reports from Baton Rouge, I look out the window of the deli where I’m eating lunch and see police on every corner. I am safe, but I fear for my country.

Baton Rouge and Dallas will not be isolated incidents. Rage in the African American community is boiling over. I stood in a crowd of about 150 yesterday listening to militant black nationalists make a case for throwing off the chains of the oppressive “white” government.

While I don’t agree with their methods, I do understand their anger. I feel like I am watching the same dynamics that existed in the 60s. There are the black leaders who would have been aligned with Dr. King, and there is a new movement that would have aligned with Malcolm X.

The resurgence of a black nationalist movement should not be taken lightly. One speaker sent chills down my spine when he said we should not fear death, we are all going to die someday. The government is not threatened, but our personal security is. Al Qaeda and ISIS have shown that it doesn’t matter if you are outgunned – you can shatter the psyche of a country with terrorist attacks. Especially if those carrying them out are prepared to die.

Their target is a society that has oppressed them for 400 years. Many speakers pointed out that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson took up arms for much less than what we have put African Americans through for 400 years.

Back is the red, black and green flag. There is a new Black Panther Party. We won’t defeat them with force. Violence begets more violence. Look at what is happening in the Middle East. We have created a new generation of terrorists there.

We are creating a new generation of terrorists here. We need a real war on poverty and institutional racism. We don’t need a racist president like Donald Trump. As Cleveland honors Donald Trump and hosts his racist supporters, I fear for my country.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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