Opinion: America's ethnic tensions easy to exploit by those seeking power
We call our American democracy an “experiment” because it has to prove itself by continuously conducting free elections that gain the consent of the governed. Before democracies, the best that people could hope for was a benevolent ruler. In fact, to this day, this has often been the choice of some people over the seeming chaos of what they see as “too much freedom” in democracies. I was often told by people when I lived outside of America: “Americans have too much freedom.” This makes an autocrat the greatest danger to our experiment in democracy.
Thankfully, by the time America was founded, people had been struggling for some centuries with the question of how much freedom and how many rights people should have. The founders of American democracy had a chance in a new land to put the ideas for a democratic government into practice. We have the basic framework, but we started with certain handicaps due to weaknesses of human nature. A large handicap for our democracy was the system of slavery that was followed by a long period of discriminatory laws. We are still wrestling with the effects of this history of lack of freedom for groups within our society. Effects have been felt by indigenous people, African Americans, and immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
We now have a highly diverse society that is multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-religious. Some of the “multis” are overlapping. Thus, in our diverse society we are testing whether we can live up to the freedoms established in our Constitution. The desire for freedom in making personal choices draws many people to America. This goes with the desire for freedom from crime and corrupt governments. Many people who come to America have never participated in a truly free election.
Our experiment in democracy has come this far through the sacrifices and sufferings of many. It is threatened by those who desire power either through the government, through wealth, and through violence. We know through our experience that the Industrial Revolution and the growth in wealth gave power to those who use money to gain political power. Freedom from the power of money cannot be obtained without transparency so that we will know who is trying to “buy power” through their wealth.
From our recent experience, the challenge to our democracy comes from a former leader, Donald Trump, who wants nothing more than not to be a loser and to reclaim power. He is very familiar with American culture and familiar with the grievances of a portion of the population. Hitler also knew German culture and the grievances of the people with economic problems. The former President and his supporters used American and Christian symbols, such as the flag, the Bible, and the cross. Christian language and prayers were used to impress people with the religiosity of the former President and his supporters. Like many societies, America has ethnic tensions that a person seeking power can exploit. The white majority group was made nostalgic for the days when they were more dominant through the adopted slogan: “Make America Great Again.” The slogan was put on many hats and used in rallies.
The experiment in democracy requires the cooperative effort of many people, but the experiment also needs protection because it can be brought to a halt by an authoritarian type of leader who will only tolerate people who are completely loyal to the leader. Since the possibility of violence is just beneath the surface in human behavior, the leader challenging democracy stirred up anger that led to the violence of January 6. This violence was accompanied by the threat of violence against a wide range of people working in the election of a new President. We discovered that many people are not as opposed to anti-democratic thought and actions as we thought. The recent January 6 attack on the Capital and all the planning, networking, and conversations that preceded it set a broad pattern for halting our democratic experiment.
Yet our experiment in democracy continues. Everyone needs education and experience in democracy to understand its important principles set forth in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. So far, the experiment in American democracy has worked, but we now know it is always in danger of failing if an individual or group of individuals succeed in manipulating the democratic processes in their favor, even using violence. We depend on courageous people who will stop them.
Rev. Dr. Robert L. Montgomery is a Presbyterian minister with a degree from Emory University in the Social Scientific Study of Religion.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: America's ethnic tensions easy to exploit by power-seekers
