(ThyBlackMan.com) America, warts and flaws and shortcomings notwithstanding, is seen as the last best hope for humanity. Its foundational documents proclaim equality and pledge to attain “a more perfect Union.” In furtherance of that lofty goal the Civil War was fought, the Civil Rights struggle waged and the Black Lives Matter campaign blossoms today.
This relentless progression towards equality parallels the nation’s expanding power and influence. After the Civil War the unbridled force of capitalism roared ahead full steam, and the civil rights movement reached fruition just as America emerged victorious in the Second World War to joust with Russia on the world stage.
Moves towards equality also parallel and foster our growing diversity. There was a great surge in immigration after the Civil War and again after the successful conclusion of the fight for civil rights. Today, as the Black Lives Matter campaign takes hold, the US is by far the most diverse nation in the West, if not the world.
However, even as America strives towards equality at home, its policies work assiduously in the opposite direction abroad. US businesses are at the forefront of the relentless exploitation of third world countries with little concern for the inhabitants or the environment. The resultant poverty and inequality powers the 
waves of migration inundating the West. And these newcomers, despite the dire need to supplement shrinking populations in the host countries, are met with increasing hostility. In America we witness growing xenophobia. In Europe frantic attempts to contain the swelling tide of arrivals are quickly producing a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions.
Most of the countries these people flee from are bankrupt, their regimes only kept in power with bailouts from the International Monetary Fund that stipulate outside control of their economies. Insolvency is even spreading to Southern Europe as the entire global economy is starting to totter. As for the environment, it’s being sacrificed wholesale on the altar of economic expediency. If this be the eleventh hour, who is there to save us?
America, the world’s leader, must lead the way if we are to be saved. It is up to this increasingly diverse, increasingly egalitarian (but never quite there yet) nation to decide by and through its own example, the fate of the world. America is the nation at the heart of the world and race is the problem at the heart of America. We might not see it here as we struggle at Ground Zero, but if we can find somehow find a way to live in peace and harmony with each other and with nature, the world will follow our example. The working out of America will prove to be the working out of the world.
The US academic establishment stands head and shoulders above all others, educating scholars the world over. Herein we deal with every problem the mind can conceive of. Well, which is more pressing than preserving humanity? Inequality and utterly wasteful materialistic concerns are ravaging the planet and its peoples. Hence, the Multicultural Studies movement coupled with the Environmental movement, no matter their current stature in the Ivory Tower, are our last line of defense.
All peoples, all cultures, all perspectives must be given their due if we’re to survive the storm. The study of African peoples, their cultures, their contributions, their Diaspora and above all their philosophy, is absolutely essential. If we are to continue on this blue speck of planet spinning through black infinity we must needs be go back to the Source, the African Source. . .
Staff Writer; Arthur Lewin
This talented author has just published a NEW book which is entitled; AFRICA is not A COUNTRY!.
For more articles written by this talented brother click on the following link; https://thyblackman.com/?s=lewin.
