The History of Injustice and Inequality

With only two weeks left, I still have a lot to learn. During the seminar on Friday, the speaker said, “You need to build power” I also believe that knowledge is power and only by learning we can build power and to do justice. My mind has been processing since the first day I arrived in Washington D.C. and still processing because of all the history of this country which has nothing good besides injustice and inequality. This country became to be the greatest nation on earth because people have endured unfair treatment and fought for injustice and inequality. It is only courage, determination and hopes what keeps people moving and standing for what is right. During the Bible On Wednesday, we went to watch the film about returning citizen where I was reminded about the mass incarceration and how the law enforcement became bias. I watched returning men and women who shared their story of how these laws impact people of color; some of them have been incarcerated more than I have been alive. Most of these populations are parents either father or mother, also some of them are single parents, living the question to their children if they would have a chance to have the love of their parents or not. The most affected of this mass incarceration are black community. Slavery time had ended and then the Jim crow laws went into effects, where black communities suffered from unfair treatment and being segregated. After the Jim Crow law ended, the war on drug started, officially declared by President Nixon to went on and highly funded until George W. Bush administration. Those laws enforcement were bias because wealthy investors make legal millions for doing the same thing that generation of minority and people of color have been incarcerated for. John Ehrlichman, who was Nixon aide, said, “You want to know what this was really all about. The Nixon campaign in 1968 and the Nixon White House after that had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying. We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did.” This is how the population can get affected if the laws are bias.
On Friday, I had the opportunity of visiting the African-American museum, where the history of African-American is alive from the past centuries up to date. In that museum, I was reminded about the slave trade and how American-American suffered in this country. All those facts from the history, which includes, museum and films are true facts which are giving us proof of how mess the history of this country was and still. For example, the war on a drug which was created to target black community, although we now know the truth those laws still in effect. After many sessions of bible studies and seminars, after decades of endurance, the people still need to build more power, because the changes still in progress and the battle of inequality and injustice is not over yet. In the Bible--Joshua 1:9 the Lord said, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  God has commanded us and promised to be with us, now is a time to build more power, shape our swords, be united as one people and fight for justice and equality.

Engoma.
GBCS intern 2017
Church World Service