Thinking of Jackson and What We Should Do Next

by Ernie McCray

That poor excuse
for a human being
is going to the White House again.
And I was thinking about him
as I played
with Jackson,
my youngest grandson,
the other day
because at the same time
my mind was also
buzzing frantically
with a myriad of contemplations
concerning the election,
wondering what we, as a nation,
if he was to win,
and, regarding his victory,
I heard a pundit say,
to my disgust,
“This is not us”
and my reaction to that misconception
was “Oh, yes, it is!!!”
and one of the first things
we Americans should do about it is
admit to ourselves
that this election
reflected
our racist tendencies to a tee.

Hating because of race

is in the country’s DNA,

along with sexism

and homophobia,

I might say.

And we, apparently, like it that way

based on my eight-plus-decades

living in the USA.

I mean a Black woman candidate

offered us joy and hope and expertise

that was just what we need

to move our society

towards more progressive ways

to live together

both socially and politically

and she was grilled

about what she has done

or hasn’t done

or what her policies

regarding important issues

might look like,

much like a detective

trying to get a confession

from a suspect.

There was no reason whatsoever,

based on the choices

we had,

for her not to have won the presidency

but because of our inclination to discriminate

we chose

a notorious racist and sexist White man

who has, with eyes on him,

like a carnival barker,

jeopardized the lives of young Black men

and separated brown babies

from their families

and put them in cages

and banned Muslims

and shucked and jived

about Haitian immigrants,

who were documented

and legalized,

eating cats and dogs,

and bragged about grabbing

women by their sexual organs

and taking away a woman’s right

to tend to her medical needs

with the Supreme Court of the United States

backing such deplorable deeds,

all extremely dangerous stumbling blocks

to keeping

a progressive-minded democracy

alive.

They peck away

at a government by the people

like birds of prey

dining on field mice.

So, it is incumbent upon us,

for the sake of human decency,

to address our bigoted tendencies

and model for Jackson

and his generation

and future generations

new ways of being,

new ways of seeing things,

showing them how to construct bridges

between them and their fellow human beings,

how to love and appreciate dark-skinned folks,

as together we can be as beautiful

and colorful as a rainbow

and how to embrace women folk,

their mothers and grandmothers

and sisters and aunties,

and how to accept

the queer folks

that exist in humanity.

What would come after

all such as that

would be more harmony

in the world.

Because by working together

there’s a better chance

for the survival

of all of humankind

because the brutal storms

and temperatures

that will come with the rapid climate changes

up ahead

have no idea what your pronoun is

and they are colorblind.

My little dude, Jackson,

and his generation

will put this country in order

someday

if we put the how to’s in motion

in their questioning minds.

Let’s do it.