1864, 1964, and Beyond

A Black Union soldier posted at a slave auction house during Gen. Sherman’s occupation of Atlanta, GA [1864]

In the heat of post-emancipation excitement, men like the one pictured could never have imagined that it would be another 100 years until the Civil Rights Act would finally enshrine the rights of all US Americans in law.

And this soldier would have probably been shocked (or not?) to learn that 160 years later, the USA would be on a pre-election knife-edge, with half of its electorate supporting a man who called for the execution of innocent Black men, a man who flouted the provisions of the Civil Rights Act, refusing to rent his New York properties to people of color.

All those years ago in Atlanta, would this man have believed that it would be the elections board of that very state (Georgia) which would try to undermine democracy itself in order to force a racist into the Oval Office, against the will of the electorate?

In 2024?

I reckon he would have smiled, shook his head, and said “Naw. We ain’t going back”.

#history #civilrights #racism