Lisa D. T. Rice

American Democracy in Distress: Ignore Race At Our Peril

“The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.” The Flag Code (Title 36, U.S.C., Ch.10)

The blue field with white stars in the upper left corner of the U.S. flag is defined as the union, also known as the canton. Whether flown vertically or horizontally, if the flag is displayed with the union down, as the flag code states above, it is a signal of dire distress.

The Black power raised fist[1] depicted here (in brown) is mine. Since the 1960s, when the phrase “I’m Black and I’m proud,” first made its way into the American lexicon, this symbol has reflected the joy, pride, and strength in being a Black American.

The bracelet on my wrist, one of my favorite gold necklaces, is stitched in the colors of the Pan-African flag[2] – red, black, and green.

Today, here, and now, America’s representative democracy is in distress. As a leader in the democracy reform movement, it is extraordinarily difficult for me to write these words. I am known as a speaker of truth, no matter how painful. This truth cannot be ignored. “American Democracy in Distress: Ignore Race at Our Peril” brings together these three symbols – the U.S. flag displayed with the union down, the Black power fist raised, and the colors of the Pan-African flag intertwined – to illustrate what is at the heart of our American distress today. Willful ignorance of the facts of American history.

As a country with several generations mis-led and mesmerized by the post-Reconstruction Lost Cause ideology, we have suffered most grievously and will continue to do so at our peril. Combine this compiled, historic ignorance with the current wave of assault upon assault on voting rights, people, and property and we are in peril. All must know the facts of history and how these dotted lines from American slavery connect to the present, dysfunctional democracy.

As long as we, as a country, ignore the gaping wound left open by America’s original sin, slavery, and the impact it has had on successive generations and, most importantly, how systemic racism has been codified into both law and tradition, we are in a doom loop. This deadly spiral does not serve anyone, except those who would prefer to live in a white supremacist autocracy rather than a fully representative, multi-ethnic democracy.

[1] The Black power fist, introduced in America by the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, took center stage internationally in 1968. During their medal ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 16, 1968, two Black athletes, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos, each raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the US national anthem.

[2] The Pan-African flag was created in 1920 to represent people of the African Diaspora and to symbolize black liberation in the United States. As flags symbolize the union of governance, people, and territory, this flag was created to give Black people in America and the world over a symbol that unifies the Diaspora.