I never thought in a million years that we would be faced with the choices that we have for the American presidency. On one hand, we have a man that has done much for the people of this country even though many don’t give him the credit for his actions. And then we have a man who is deeply flawed and not interested in governing as much as he is interested in paying people back for wrongdoings and mistreatment by his perceived enemies.
The problem that many people can’t seem to get passed regarding the current president is his age. I understand it, and while I also question his age, I also ask myself of the job that he has done while in office.
Looking at the ex-president, I question his ability to govern for all Americans if he manages to govern at all. He has not made mention of the policies that will benefit the lives of us all, but instead is focused on getting back at everyone that he feels has wronged him…even people that are trying to uphold the laws of this nation.
We may feel like we are caught between a rock and a hard place, and for some, truer words may never have been spoken. But more is on the ballot besides the choices that we have. If we were dealing with men that are interested in governing and believed that if they lost, the thing that most candidates would do is to concede graciously. We do not have that. While one man is interested in governing, we have another who is telling you exactly what he will do if he obtains the Whitehouse. He will shred our democratic norms by turning our democracy into an autocracy. He will take a sledgehammer to the Constitution and change how he lives by never leaving office. He will weaponize the government and use that power to persecute his perceived enemies. We will never hear the end of how unfairly he has been treated by the laws that have upheld our country for centuries and cherry pick which laws he chooses to keep in place.
Women should have the right to do what they want with their own bodies which include the ability to start families when they are ready and not have the government make that choice for them. Most importantly, we all deserve to exercise our right to vote, and we deserve to have that right to not be meddled with or in some cases not to be hindered by the powers that be.
At the end of the day, the elected officials are in office because we trust them to make life better for all of us, which means implementing policies that will benefit all of us. Maya Angelou said it best, “When a person shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
I firmly believe that a smaller group of people don’t have the right to impose their will/beliefs on the majority. But we have to understand this country was founded under the guise of people coming here, seeing the resources the land had, and then taking it for themselves in the name of Christianity.
Our country was founded on lies and falsehoods. It was founded under the basis of subjugating whole races of people into enslavement and the narrative has always been that the people being were being repressed because somehow, they could not govern themselves and often had to work for little to no money to keep the slaveholders in a lifestyle that they had become accustomed to. That is a fact.
Sadly, some of our citizens feel threatened. They feel as if their way of life is under attack when the simple truth of the matter is when you are used to being on the top of the food chain, equality can look and feel like repression.
We can live together side by side in peace. Harmony may be a stretch, but peace is viable. For that to happen, people need to recognize and change their view of self-importance. We need to understand that there is more than enough for all of us.
In addition, we need to understand that violence never resolved anything. The only thing that violence proves (at least in this country) is who is better equipped and armed to commit these types of acts against its own citizens. Violence never proved strength. It just makes it easier for a minority to force their viewpoints and beliefs on others regardless of the legitimacy of their ideologies.
Without leaning too far into my personal beliefs, I wanted to share one last thought with you. My neighborhood is quiet. The residents on my block either know each other personally or at least by face. We are a melting pot of multi-racial, LGBTQ and heterosexual people living side by side. We live in peace with each of us addressing our own kitchen table issues in the confines of our homes. And we aim to keep it like that.
We have a choice in 2024. Let’s just hope that we choose wisely.
~ J.L. Whitehead
