“Autumn is a season for transformation and a time to acknowledge the ache in our souls as we let go of the warmth of what was and enter into the cold unknown of what’s to come. But there is so much beauty in the crisp air and in the golden hues in the skies and the leaves surrounding us. Change is coming, and I hope that it will be enough to warm your heart and rekindle the embers of hope in your soul. May this fall be a beautiful time to move forward together, embracing change and challenging our hearts to do the same.” Liz Newman September 22, 2020 it read poetry.com

And one day it happened. I opened the window in the kitchen as I sat down for an early morning cup of coffee. There it was like an old long-lost friend. Through the rustling of the trees, I could hear its voice. It was the whispering yet distinctive voice of change. After a very hot summer, the manifestation of this unmistakable old friend arrested my attention with an ear tingling cool breeze. It was the kind of breeze that makes you quickly reach for that window to close it just a little bit. As light stretched across the once green horizon; even though I realized that a gradual metamorphosis had been underway, It seemed as though overnight browns, oranges, and yellows now dominated the landscape. Suddenly it hit me, with one chilled whisp, Summer had ended and had finally succumbed to Autumns majestic display.

Earlier, leaves gushed with the familiar comfortable chlorophyll leaving all things in endless green. Summer seems as though it would last forever, akin to a warm day in the antebellum south drinking sweet tea on the porch and looking over the endless green of the plantation. This reality for some was not shared by all on the property as other inhabitants lie forged in the grips of chattel slavery. Years earlier this same land was indigenous land which was forever changed by the stroke of a pen in the name of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and The Trail of Tears began. The green is temporal and must give in to True Colors of the extravagance of the beauty of God’s creation.

Scripture reminds us:

“What has been is the same as what will be, and what has been done is the same as what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9  Modern English Version  

Before this aspirational experiment called the United States of America was formed, these lands were filled with a rich diversity of indigenous peoples of browns from ecru, light brown to browns and deep browns. When European ships arrived, they brought with them African slaves which increased the diversity of color spread throughout the Americas. Despite the red, white, and blue, these were the True Colors of America.

Through the passing of time, a prevailing narrative became the norm for America. One might say that the newly independent nation figuratively deemphasized the red and blue in the wake of white i.e. whiteness.

“Americans have had many ways of looking down on people without questioning their whiteness,” yet whiteness has served to unify a way of looking down on people who are not judged white. Peter Kolchin, daily.jstor.org

“Americans have had many ways of looking down on people without questioning their whiteness,” yet whiteness has served to unify a way of looking down on people who are not judged white.

Peter Kolchin daily.jstor.org

Whiteness was the socially constructed cultural norm that along with its ever-changing definition; at different times excluded Italians, Irish, Slavs, Poles, Jews, and Serbs, among others, It became the standard by which every other part of American life and existence was touched, influenced over, and judged. To be very clear, whiteness is not to be confused with so-called white individuals or individuals of European ancestry.

“Whiteness and white racialized identity refer to the way that white people, their customs, culture, and beliefs operate as the standard by which all other groups are compared. Whiteness is also at the core of understanding race in America. Whiteness and the normalization of white racial identity throughout America’s history have created a culture where nonwhite persons are seen as inferior or abnormal.

This white-dominant culture also operates as a social mechanism that grants advantages to white people, since they can navigate society both by feeling normal and being viewed as normal. Persons who identify as white rarely have to think about their racial identity because they live within a culture where whiteness has been normalized.” National Museum of African American History & Culture|Smithsonian

The American story is full of revivals of whiteness every time it has been challenged by temporary pushes toward equity. The backlash has overwhelmed BIPOC and their allies’ efforts highlighted by pronounced numeric and economic disadvantages. To make it plain, it’s a numbers game. Even though most European Americans are not overtly racist. The numbers of those who are, aided by the masses of the indifferent from the historic majority culture have made efforts difficult, to say the least. The familiar historical defaults, including those of the Post George Floyd Racial Reckoning Backlash produced hypocritically anti-democratic voter suppression, gerrymandering, and court-packing resulting in rollbacks of voting rights and affirmative action. This time sadly brings back memories of Plessy v Ferguson and the Dred Scott decision.

The Aljazeera News article, “Abolishing whiteness has never been more urgent Noel Ignatiev showed us how.” The writer Mark Lavin quotes the opinion of author and historian Noel Ignatiev who outlines whiteness chronology:

“This should not surprise us. While whiteness and its avatar, “Western civilization”, have for centuries declared themselves to be the epitome of Enlightenment and freedom, historians have demonstrated not only the historicity of whiteness and its contingency, but that whiteness emerged directly and almost exclusively through its connection to imperialism/colonialism, slavery, genocide, and modern-day racism.”

The numbers game is ending. The chlorophyll like influence of whiteness is beginning to cool. Remember, It’s a numbers game. Despite desperate draconian efforts to attempt to install a South African Style permanent minority rule. It is time to embrace change and let the True Colors of America burst into every corridor of society by finding the Ties That Bind throughout this new and growing majority of color. This involves exposing and destroying divisive tactics of discord such as the Asian model minority myth. We must never forget, that at the height of the pandemic, numerous phenotypically Asians became the target of slurs, threats and, violence.

“What has been is the same as what will be,” as America the beautiful returns to a land of every skin tone under heaven, True Colors. It may seem uncomfortable to some, and different for others, remember,

“May this fall be a beautiful time to move forward together, embracing change and challenging our hearts to do the same.” Liz Newman September 22, 2020, it read poetry.com