So many of us believed the United States of America would continue striving for that Shining City, building a "more perfect" Union.
Being a white male born in 1957, I grew up without realizing or acknowledging the opportunity and privilege I had that others did not -- especially those facing racial discrimination who were essentially being denied the American Dream.
Unlike many in my all-white neighborhood, my parents and elderly aunt who lived with us cared deeply about civil rights. I have a vivid memory of coming downstairs one April morning to find Aunt Kate weeping. She had turned on the news, and heard that Dr. King had been murdered. When I went to school that day, my "peers" were celebrating. Their parents had different views than mine.
America has always been subject to the ugly side of human nature -- ignorance, racism, tribalism, unfettered greed at the highest levels of capitalism, and an electoral system corrupted by monied interests.
I saw the promise of a young generation inspired to do what they can for their country squandered on the scorched earth of Vietnam. Then more assassinations, riots, nihilism, drugs, hedonism, selfishness.
But still, progress. Racial slurs and overt sexist remarks directed at women no longer tolerated in many spheres. LGBTQ rights, the first Black president.
The arc of the moral universe is long, but perhaps it steadily bends towards justice. Of course, dedication and persistence among women and men of good will are required to do the bending.
Abraham Lincoln, perhaps our greatest president, during a cataclysmic war tearing our nation apart, in dedicating a cemetery for the fallen, spoke of the last true measure of devotion which would bring new birth of freedom.
Americans once again are experiencing some very dark days, with no clear view of the light of a better future.
Nothing is guaranteed. Arc bending is required. That shining city still resides in many hearts. It is up to us and younger generations of Americans to build it.
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