Starting all over again: Hopes for racial reckoning, reconciliation in Erie tested

As I prepare to do presentations this Black History Month, my heart is sad and solemn and my resolve to believe in this nation that I have spent 75 years of my life in and its effort to seek a more excellent way is waning.

The hopes and dreams of my youth have turned into a hellish nightmare in my twilight years. The smile and joy of being accepted as an equal, worthwhile human being seem to be dissipating as smoke in the air.

The words of Langston Hughes published in 1951 continue to echo in my mind: "What becomes of a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore — And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat?" Lines from the 1994 TLC song offer little hope as these words resonate with the Black community in 2023, "Don't go chasing waterfalls, Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to, I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all, But I think you're moving too fast."

This is the America that African Americans have been forced to live in and asked to accept for 400-plus years. We have sought for ourselves and all Americans the promises of a society where "we will no longer be judged by the color of our skin but the content of our character." For years we have asked white Americans to remove the scales of racism, bigotry, hatred, and unfairness from their eyes, which inhabit their minds and thought patterns. We need to look to Aristotle when he concluded that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," and expand that today by saying that the "total effectiveness of a group depends on each interacting with one another in a different or greater way than their effectiveness when acting in isolation from one another."

This concept, "out of many, one," has been embedded in the fabric of America since its inception. As the Harvard Museum of Natural History has stated, the Latin phrase "e pluribus unum," approved as the motto for the new United States in 1776, "reflected a determination to assemble a single unified nation from a collection of states."

In recent weeks, we have been reminded of the challenges to realizing the ideal of unity in a country of people from different backgrounds and beliefs, especially in the face of powerful forces working to tear it apart. But e pluribus unum expresses more than an ideal. It reflects an essential truth about both nature and human society that we are stronger and more resilient together, embracing all of our diversity than we are apart.

So, where are we locally in fulfilling this sacred ideal? Many citizens' perspectives depend on their view of what America is to them. In that thought process, they fall into the "what is good for me" conundrum and never realize that no man is an island and no man stands alone. The systems that have forged these attitudes and beliefs which people have sustained for centuries must be dismantled.

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Locally, we marvel at our commitment to be a city of refuge for immigrants and those who have been affected by turmoil in their countries. Their lives and the lives of their families are constantly at risk. So they seek hope and opportunity in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

As I view downtown development in our city, I see renovation, the process of upgrading the old and changing it into something new and beautiful. In doing this renovation, the existing framework may have to be changed, and new plumbing, HVAC systems, and foundational upgrades are a necessity. If this is the case in changing buildings, would it not also be the same for changing archaic and discriminatory systems? Systems can only change when the people who operate those systems change.

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If we look back, we must ask many questions, such as where are Black policemen, Black firemen, and Black teachers? There was once a concerted effort to right past wrongs, but we have returned to the age of business as usual. This scripture rings true in the hearts and minds of the lowly, the disenfranchised, the marginal, and those who seek just an iota of help, "these people (the system) honor us with their lips but the hearts are far from us."

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What we need are the two "R" words. Those that deal with outward appearances and change and one that deals with spiritual and moral changes that manifest themselves in the inward parts of individuals but shine brightly in their outward character. Those "R" words are "revival" and "renaissance." Revival means renewal or awakening whereby one sees themselves in a different light that enhances awareness of themselves and those around them. Renaissance is a revival of or renewed interest in something.

Can renaissance and revival be the sacred arches on which we rebuild a society that has seemingly fallen into disrepair? The foundational pieces are still implanted and are embodied in Micah 6:8-10, "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

Maybe we can look at the words from Mel and Tim in their 1972 song, “Starting All Over Again” and determine our future direction.

Starting all over again is gonna be rough, so rough

But we're gonna make it (oh yeah)

Starting all over as friends is gonna be tough, on us

But we gotta face it

We lost what we had, that's what hurt us so bad (oh yeah)

It set us back a thousand years

But we're gonna make it up, though I know it's gonna be rough

To erase all the hurt and tears

Starting all over again is gonna be hard

But I pray that the love will help us make it (yeah)...

Starting all over again is gonna be rough. Is America up for the challenge or have we succumbed to forces that have sapped our energy and stolen our vision?

Johnny C. Johnson is a retired Erie School District teacher.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie's slow-rolling racial reckoning needs a revival and renaissance