(December 30, 2008) - My paternal grandfather, who stood tall in height and wisdom, would often teach life lessons from his observation that the darkest portion of the night sky is just before dawn. Likewise, my maternal grandmother's face seemed to metaphorically convey her belief that we cannot see daylight until we make it through the night. How true today, as many celebrate a new year brimming with the pleasant possibilities.
As the sun sets on the Bush administration, the past eight years may be recorded as the “unenlightened years” of American history. After all, just before the elections of 2000, the national budget surplus was $230 million; the nation was in peacetime; citizens enjoyed the privacy of home; personal income paid the bills for most; American jobs were in America; school children had classes such as art, band and drama as educational options; and the world community actually liked the president of the United States.
And then the lights went out.
What a difference eight years makes. The 2000 presidential elections were so illegitimate that only one other time in American history had the winner of the popular vote lost the election; and the loser won (Hayes/Tilden Compromise, 1877). The deal in the election of 1876 was that Rutherford B. Hayes would be declared the president in consideration for the removal of federal troops in the south that were dispatched, in part, to protect newly freed African Americans by the Reconstruction Congress, following the American Civil War.
Like 1876, the 2000 elections would portend bad times. Within eight months of the Bush administration (August, 2001), the national treasury had been drained to the extent that the $230 million national surplus of a year before had become a deficit.
Half way around the world on Sept. 7, 2001, an international delegation met in Durbin, South Africa, at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. That delegation agreed to shed light on terrorism - wherever evidence led-- and address reparations for indigenous people oppressed and exploited by governments. Four days later, the conference's light was dimmed by the unbelievable events of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York.
“As the sun sets on the Bush administration, the past eight years may be recorded as the ‘unenlightened years’ of American history.”
Soon, the Bush administration attacked the sovereign nation of Iraq without provocation, occupied it and declared war without end - The War on Terrorism.
As bombs lit the legendary land of Abraham, innocent people, including children, died in the darkness of destruction and dispossession. None other than a journalist known as the Prince of Darkness met criticism of the war by an American diplomat with the exposure of his wife's secret identity as a CIA agent.
At home, bombs dropped on Iraq exploded in American cities with drastic reductions in domestic programs such as health benefits for veterans, the National Endowment of the Arts, education, infrastructure construction projects, and emergency responders. As global lights lowered, so did the brilliance of the American presidency.
The White House pushed the passage of the Patriot Act (1 and 2) by Congress, resulting in the suspension of constitutional protections of personal privacy. Federal surveillance of private citizens was approved and purchased from American telecommunications companies. In short, the decade of darkness was governed by a dim-witted White House that subverted the intent of laws, while not enforcing laws as they were intended.
And an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at an American president for the orphans and widows of his war, to boot (pun intended).
But joy comes in the morning.
Since the dawn of civilization on African horizons, the winter solstice – Dec. 21 - records the yearly date when the sun is at its lowest point in the southern sky and seems to remain still for three days. On the fourth day, Dec. 25, the sun appears to rise in the sky until the vernal equinox - March 21.
As we bury the Bush administration, a new day is dawning in America, with a new light for the world provided by the enlightenment of a new son - President Barack Hussein Obama.
While it is true that the darkness yields to light over time, and the sun takes many minutes to rise, we must be patient and keep our heads to the heavens as the son rises.
In the words of poet Maya Angelou, let the “yet-to-be United States of America” be the light of the world.
Gary L. Flowers is executive director and CEO of the Black Leadership Forum.