I spent four of my happiest years as a graduate student at Temple University in Philadelphia in the early ‘70s. One source of inspiration for me on that urban campus was an engraving on the ivy-covered walls of Sullivan Hall that housed the counseling services of the university. It was a quote from Russell H. Conwell (1843-1925), the founder of Temple University: “Greatness really consists in doing some great deed with little means.”
That Joe
Biden has become the 46th President of the United States, bringing
an end to four years of national nightmare under the venal, vile and vindictive
Trump, is in no small measure due to hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians, particularly African-American women and men, who came together to
do a great deed with little means. Many of the Philadelphians whose votes
carried Biden across the finish line were Americans with little material means, some at risk of not being able to even breathe from systemic racism, but their sense of justice and fair play and decency and empathy was bigger than the wide-open sky shining down on America today.
Philadelphia,
you have made us all proud. I live in Northern California now, happily I may add, but in a very real sense, I left my heart in Philadelphia - Fairmount Park, Robinhood Dell, Philadelphia Orchestra, steps leading up to the Art Museum, and so much more - four decades ago.
A Quaker named William Penn founded the “City of Brotherly Love” in 1682, a place where anyone could worship freely. Three hundred and thirty-eight years later, this cosmopolitan and resilient city of almost 2 million people have given us a gift, a gift that rescued us from the most severe existential danger our nation faced since the American Civil War. That War lasted 4 years too, from 1861 to 1865. And now, after 4 years of Trump, from 2016-2020, the most ignoble years in American History will slide into the dustbin of history.
Yet let us
not forget that over 70 million Americans voted for Trump. Will Trumpism, aka
white nationalism, slide into the dustbin of history as well?
No, it will
not. White Nationalism is here to stay. Even though they see the handwriting on
the faux golden façade of their hero, they will not go gently into the night. Trump
was their last best hope on earth to save the supposed superiority of their race. To
give up on that will be to give up on life.
They will
organize and prepare and agitate and threaten and commit violence. Joe Biden
has said that he will govern as an American president, not as a Democratic president. It’s a noble sentiment and it is surely the moral high ground to take. But
the 46th president will be living in a fool’s paradise if he thinks
he can placate Trump supporters and convince them of the possibilities of a
united country, at least anytime soon.
Abraham
Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” But the house will
be divided for the foreseeable future. That’s the reality. So, while Biden seeks compromise
and consensus, he must also steel himself to fight for his principles and priorities. If Trump
supporters and spineless Republicans stand in the way of his priorities, he must
use the power of his presidency to achieve his major goals – defeat the pandemic,
restore the economy, confront the climate crisis - that he promised
during his campaign. Compromise and consensus can go only so far in these difficult times. Timidity must never become a substitute for bold
action.
Joe Biden is
a man of abiding faith. It is his faith that saw him through the darkest days
of his life when he lost his wife, daughter and son.
Mr. President-elect,
here’s praying for you to heal and unite America to the best of your ability. At the same time, do not allow anything to get in the way of achieving the goals you
so eloquently and powerfully articulated during your campaign. Your faith in God
and in the basic goodness of the American people will see you through as certainly as it saw you through your incalculable personal losses.
