Since the end of the Civil War and start of the Reconstruction era in 1865, our world has struggled to bring peace, justice, and freedom for all Americans. There is clearly work that still needs to be done in our country. Months ago, an African American man, George Floyd, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. How long will it take until our home is safe for every person of color? Until people of all different races and religions can live in a place where they do not have to be afraid, no matter their race, disability, or ethnicity? Our work started during the First Reconstruction, when the U.S. began trying to grant true freedom and equality to formerly enslaved people following the end of the Civil War. We then carried forward to the Second Reconstruction during the Civil Rights era in the 1950s-60s, where the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were recognized once again after years of being ignored. We now find ourselves entering the Third Reconstruction, with Covid-19, more racial injustice, and another attempt to right the wrongs of our past. According to the website, Facing History and Ourselves, Reconstruction “still remains an unfinished revolution.” Each Reconstruction has been a revolution, and after each revolution we have only made little progress. Right now during 2020, we are beginning the third cycle that will hopefully end with a more just and equitable world than before.
Martin Luther King Jr. thought the same about this unfinished revolution as well. He explained how “‘We [African Americans] were partially liberated and then reënslaved.” Although black people had been fighting for freedom “for more than a hundred years,” the only thing that was “explicitly certain is that the struggle for it will endure”’ (Glaude, “The History That James Baldwin Wanted America to See”). King was correct: it will endure. Reconstruction after Reconstruction and revolution after revolution; we need to end this infinite cycle.
Along with this unfinished revolution is Covid-19, which has claimed over four hundred thousand lives and has disproportionately affected African American communities. We have to watch people of color die because of institutional racism and their lack of access to proper health care. Why can they not be comforted knowing doctors and nurses will be there to take care of them? Why can they not afford the cost of saving a life or to get care for a sick child? These are caused by inequality and bias - from a revolution that keeps on circling.
As it was during the “end” of both Reconstructions, there were still imperfections. After the first, much work was needed to make sure the amendments granting freedom, rights, and equality to all U.S. citizens were not restricted and that no one could erect barriers to accessing these freedoms. After the second, the goal of “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” had not at all held true throughout our country; today we look at protests all over the world focusing on the safety of black lives. We have yet to discover what it will be like after the Third Reconstruction, which we are living in right at this moment.
The Third Reconstruction is also filled with new lessons for us to learn: lessons teaching us how to stick together when social distancing is in our way; how to see someone as a life-saver instead of a random stranger; how to understand the injustice on this planet and how it continues to threaten the lives of others; and how to accept the reality of knowing a fourth revolution will wiggle its way through our global problems and imperfections, despite the ones we will attempt to fix in the Third Reconstruction.
After these three Reconstructions, our world will still be spinning round. There is a possibility where we can stop the endless cycle of Reconstructions, though. Let’s throw away our unconscious bias and begin to look at everyone as we do our loved ones; air-high-five each other when we choose charity rather than abandonment; work together to make our home a safe and just place, with both white and black hands on the job; and bring this revolution to an end.
Martin Luther King Jr. thought the same about this unfinished revolution as well. He explained how “‘We [African Americans] were partially liberated and then reënslaved.” Although black people had been fighting for freedom “for more than a hundred years,” the only thing that was “explicitly certain is that the struggle for it will endure”’ (Glaude, “The History That James Baldwin Wanted America to See”). King was correct: it will endure. Reconstruction after Reconstruction and revolution after revolution; we need to end this infinite cycle.
Along with this unfinished revolution is Covid-19, which has claimed over four hundred thousand lives and has disproportionately affected African American communities. We have to watch people of color die because of institutional racism and their lack of access to proper health care. Why can they not be comforted knowing doctors and nurses will be there to take care of them? Why can they not afford the cost of saving a life or to get care for a sick child? These are caused by inequality and bias - from a revolution that keeps on circling.
As it was during the “end” of both Reconstructions, there were still imperfections. After the first, much work was needed to make sure the amendments granting freedom, rights, and equality to all U.S. citizens were not restricted and that no one could erect barriers to accessing these freedoms. After the second, the goal of “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” had not at all held true throughout our country; today we look at protests all over the world focusing on the safety of black lives. We have yet to discover what it will be like after the Third Reconstruction, which we are living in right at this moment.
The Third Reconstruction is also filled with new lessons for us to learn: lessons teaching us how to stick together when social distancing is in our way; how to see someone as a life-saver instead of a random stranger; how to understand the injustice on this planet and how it continues to threaten the lives of others; and how to accept the reality of knowing a fourth revolution will wiggle its way through our global problems and imperfections, despite the ones we will attempt to fix in the Third Reconstruction.
After these three Reconstructions, our world will still be spinning round. There is a possibility where we can stop the endless cycle of Reconstructions, though. Let’s throw away our unconscious bias and begin to look at everyone as we do our loved ones; air-high-five each other when we choose charity rather than abandonment; work together to make our home a safe and just place, with both white and black hands on the job; and bring this revolution to an end.
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