Fire can be one of the greatest destructive forces known to man. It has the ability to spread rapidly and get out of control. Once out of control it can create irreparable damage and take some time to extinguish.

Such is the case with false narratives pushed through the pipeline of American history. These narratives have taken on a life of their own, leaving a path of destruction along the way. The flames are still burning out of control, and just when it looks like they are merely simmering, another spark causes them to rage once again.

This is where our nation is currently and it has never deviated from this path. At times, it seems the flames are dying down and it breeds hope in the eyes of the beholders, but suddenly someone lights another spark, and they inflame once more to the surprise of the onlookers.

Before America was birthed out of the womb of this stolen land, a prescribed narrative known as racism/white supremacy was in place to welcome her arrival. It had already been developed and prepared by a group of mad pseudo-scientists who successfully infused it into her DNA. Like a malignant cancer, it spread rapidly throughout her organs.

The ravages of cancer can often go undetected and unnoticed, giving the appearance of a healthy body externally, while tremendous damage is being done internally. Is this not the image of the United States of America that sends us constant reminders of how un-united and extremely divided we actually are?      

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676-1677) laid the foundation for the divide-and-conquer strategies. These strategies were used to keep the power and money in the hands of rich, “white,” male, landowners. They came under attack by the lower caste system of the economic underprivileged who realized they had more in common with each other than they did with the rich ruling class. The ruling class determined they would never again allow their coveted wealth and power to be threatened by the masses of the underlings.

So, a consequential plan was hatched to keep the lower classes fighting amongst themselves while keeping the spotlight off of them. Word was sent back to Europe that; authoritative measures would be taken to set a strategy to prevent future uprisings.

Portugal had already begun transporting Africans as slaves in the mid-1400s; they justified and rationalized it by introducing a racial hierarchy caste system that placed Blacks at the bottom of the scale.

Why reinvent the wheel when one is already developed and proven effective? Native Americans didn’t work out as slaves as they knew the land and could readily escape. Poor Europeans contracted as indentured servants to pay off their debts in exchange for an opportunity in the new world tended to work for only 7 years.

Formerly deemed as “others” based on religion and nationality; skin color did not detour them from coming together or even producing what would later become known as, “interracial” families. Not to mention, many of the few European women brought to America seemed to favor the company of these darker-skinned men of African descent. This led to the introduction of laws in the colony that punished European women by ostracizing them from the community if they established relationships with African men.

Being that indentured servants could blend in with the free European society; it was more difficult to locate them if they attempted to break their contracts and seek freedom. However free labor was necessary for greater and faster growing financial profits.                     

Developing the pseudo-science of “race” provided so many answers to the problem. “Black” people were born to be the servants of those who would now be categorized as “white.” Biblical passages taken out of context would be used to justify this with a Christian covering to ease the consciences of people. It was the curse of Ham, they reasoned, which set the stage for the “godly ordained” structure of “Blacks” being servants to “whites.”

“Whites” were entitled to better living conditions and were exempt from harsher living conditions; typically reserved for the inferior “Blacks,” preordained to a life-long existence in servitude. After all, this was “the will of Almighty God!” Who would argue with that?

What would become known as the slave Bible, would provide further legitimacy to the institution of slavery. The slave Bible removed any references to equality as well as removing the book of Exodus, which documented the story of the Hebrews gaining their freedom from the Egyptians.

Slavery was taken to another level with the establishment of “chattel slavery,” which was distinguished from other forms of slavery because it added the legalized dehumanization of the enslaved; categorizing them as property, on par with inanimate objects. With no rights, those deemed “white” were free to treat and mistreat them as they saw fit. Inclusive of rape, pedophilia, torture, and forced reproduction via slave breeding farms. These grew in popularity following the “official” end of the transatlantic slave trade in 1808 (one of these being owned by Founding Fathers and President Thomas Jefferson). The classification of property allowed the enslaved to be legally subjected to any form of evil, limited only by one’s lack of imagination.

This is America’s original sin; a sin that has yet to be confessed and repented for. When she had the opportunity to do so with the era of Reconstruction following the Civil War, she reneged. Instead, she reignited the simmering flames with Black Codes which legally re-enslaved newly freed Blacks via incarceration. Additionally, she resended Field Order #15, which granted formerly enslaved Blacks, 40 acres of land; and she introduced Jim Crow segregation laws. She even viciously removed most of the over 2,000 newly elected Blacks from political office without remorse or even a hint of an apology.

Those flames blazed out of control with the removal of Union troops from the South following the political presidential compromise of 1877. This allowed racially extremist “white” terrorist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan to target Blacks for acts of intimidation and violence, inclusive of murder without consequences.

It took 100 years from the 1865 birth of the Klan for Blacks to receive Civil Rights legislation following over 4,000 lynchings. In addition to the destruction of several successful Black Wall Street communities that outshined their “white” counterparts. Again, America had her chance to confess and repent of her original sin. But as the flames seemed to simmer, another backlash occurred as law enforcement heavily targeted Black organizations and individuals with such tools as “the war against drugs,” “the broken window theory,” the assassination of Black leaders, and the COINTELPRO program designed to “keep Blacks in their place” and not upset the well-established caste system of America’s apple cart of racism/white supremacy.

Fast forward to 2020, 46-year-old George Floyd had his life casually snuffed out while America watched. Police officers kneeled on his back for over 9 minutes preventing him from breathing until he died.

There seemed to be an awakening and another opportunity for America to confess and repent. After all, she had elected her first Black president for two terms, leading some to naively think that her original sin was behind her. But this awakening was only experienced by some and a percentage of those returned to their slumber.

More “whites” were opening their eyes and vacating their white evangelical “Christian,” nationalist, autocratic supporting churches and seeking to become anti-racist and allies to a global movement of recognizing that Black lives mattered. Perhaps, we could finally stomp out that fire.

But, in comes the political lawmakers and their supporters with acts of voter suppression and the demonization of any forward motion to right the wrongs of the past. Instead, we saw the inventing of a number of boogie men with the hijacking of narratives such as “Black Lives Matter,” “CRT,” “DEI,” “Reparations,” and “Affirmative Action.” Truthtellers and modern-day prophets were attacked as being anti-patriotic, anti-law-and-order, and a threat to America. Books were banned, Black history denied, and efforts to enlighten institutions, schools, and workplaces were done away with.  

The old tactic of using Brown faces in the spirit of “the house negro” of old were paraded before our eyes to give the impression of legitimacy for the narrative to once again, keep Blacks and their allies in their place. All to maintain the institutionalized system of America’s caste system of white supremacy.

And now as we prepare for another presidential election, America sits on the edge of her seat as a convicted felon who is on record, calling for the “termination of parts of the Constitution” and becoming a “dictator on day one.” 

Actions like this could once and for all end our constitutional democracy and seal her prized possession of her coveted caste system.

These flames die hard, and America is in desperate need of firefighters!