A New Reconstruction

Where are the leaders? Whom shall we follow? Who will set the example for us to emulate and lay down the footprints we will endeavor to fill?
Is it any wonder that those who step forward need to be double- armored? They need to be protected from the crackpot, crack-shots with the AK-47s as well as the opponents of the other party. One tries to destroy with physical harm, while the other tries to destroy with psychological advantage. Let us look at what we expect from our leaders and what we want them to be. We expect a spotless past...not one spotted with the foolish antics of youth and flawed judgement. We want them to be honest, but if they are, we seek to disqualify them on some minor point. If they are, we go to great lengths to prove that they are not.
Is it any wonder that most of our best and brightest do not voluntarily step forward to subject themselves and their families to the consequences of being in public service? As American citizens, we all wonder how the playing field is reduced to two players...the others having left the field while the ball is still in play. Most of those go off to their respective corners to regroup after having failed to change the rules of the game after the whistle signaled the start of play. The sore losers who then rally support to manipulate the next game.
Such was the case in Reconstruction when the first duly elected Blacks took their seats in Congress. My great-grandfather, the Hon. Joseph H. Rainey, was one of those history-making pioneers....the first Black Congressman. Although he realized what was happening during his tenure of five terms in Congress, he was powerless to stop it. While all appeared changed and progressive, the sore losers were in their dark corners changing the rules of the game. Up rose the KKK, the institution of the 'poll tax', intimidation and all forms of things dark and evil crafted to keep Americans away from the polls. After so much progress and promise, the Republican Party underwent a startling metamorphosis, relegating some citizens to mere bystanders on the field of American politics, and totally abandoned its traditional platform of diversity and forward thinking. This spelled the doom of Reconstruction.
With the election of Barack Obama, we now see the prospect of a new Reconstruction complete with the sore losers in their dark corners plotting ways to turn back time. There have been spikes in 'hate crimes' and related internet websites. The police and FBI have been notified of 'persons of interest' whose actions are threatening to put into action those things which their mouths have been heard to utter. A new 'supremacist' group (I will not dignify them by posting their name) actually killed a prospective member when he changed his mind about joining. Probably some misguided, brainwashed youth who heard one murderous threat too many and knew he was in over his head. He was, after all, just a college student...young and initially impressionable. The National Geographic just finished a documentary on these groups and their mouthpieces. The footage of their rallies and gatherings leave one shaking one's head in disbelief.
The venom-filled lyrics and steady barrage of anti-everything common sense 'songs' are so sad.
I cannot imagine a Life filled with hate...to wake up hating, planning what hate crimes I could commit today, go to sleep hating. Choosing to ignore the beauty of the world outside the self-imposed prison of hate is like choosing Jim Jones Kool-Aid over green tea.
Let us all learn from history. We, the people, have claimed this victory. We, the people, have chosen our new leader. A man courageous enough to expose himself to everything that his political foes and foam-at-the-mouth zealots have and will throw at him. It is our duty to be vigilant, to be supportive, to be certain that this time we will live the legacy of a new reconstruction which cannot be stamped out by steel-toed combat boots nor pushed back into obscurity by cowards under dirty white sheets.