America’s past is complicated to some. To me, its quite simple. America was once a startup, unbridled in it’s optimism and enthusiastic about what was to come. But, America’s desire to be free was swallowed by it’s thirst for power. This country used slave labor to turn the cotton industry into the biggest in the world. America grew into a super power on the backs of slave labor. This is America’s original sin that this country has never truly atoned for. They’ll do anything but pay what they owe. “Here take an amendment that we’ll try to circumvent.” “Want a black president? Sure, he’s no match for white supremacy, the mainstay of this nation.” I don’t trust any branch of government. Not only because they’ve never atoned for their original sin, but because of the ways that white supremacy is still woven into the fabric of this country. From the way we still romanticize our slave owning forefathers to the corruption in the highest office in this country being shrugged off by bible toting politicians, this country has shown me that I’ll never truly feel like an American.

The microagressions that I experience on a daily don’t bother me as much as what I’ve seen during these impeachment hearings. As I watch both sides present their case, I can’t help but think this whole thing is a scam. Granted, I am a bit jaded. As a chid i was fascinated by politics. I followed the Gore vs Bush election all the way until the Supreme Court settled the recount dispute in Florida. After the Bush Administration we received a president built for the social media era. He was progressive but not so progressive that he made white people nervous. Barack Obama was supposed to be symbol of change and in retrospect, that was not the case.

Right now we have a president that is racist, corrupt, and just an overall dickhead. After several impeachable offense, House Democrats finally went forward with impeachment hearings after the president allegedly withheld aid from the Ukraine in exchange for dirt on Joe Biden. This week I’ve watched impeachment managers eloquently lay out their case during the impeachment trial. I have also seen the president’s defense dismiss that the charges as insignificant. The Republican Senators have thwarted every opportunity for the Democrats to build a case. This impeachment trial is merely a theatrical performance. Democrats performing for their liberal constituency and Republicans performing for Fox News and their proud papa, President Trump.

The political process in this country is a joke. Not the funny kind either, this kind of joke warrants tomato tosses or an endless cascade of boos at the Apollo. As a citizen of this country, I feel powerless and hopeless. I’m beginning to think that things will never change. We’ve been trying to make this form of Democracy work but it only works for the rich and the privileged. The people are powerless and the politicians that we elect are controlled by personal interests. Capitalism will always control our politics unless we do something to change it. I don’t know what changes should be made or could be made. I’m not a political scientist, but I am a concerned citizen. I’m concerned for the generations to come and the world that our children and grandchildren will inhabit.

“…That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

The Declaration of Independence empowered the people to decide what our government will look like and how it would function. But when you look at old portrayals of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, you see white men wearing white wigs. These were our elites. Slaves and women weren’t included in this process. In fact slaves were omitted completely. How tone deaf is it for white men to demand their freedom from tyranny while enslaving blacks? I wish I could tell you that things will get better but I don’t believe that anymore. But I encourage you to pay attention to the impeachment trial. Share information with those around you and teach your children about the world you live in. “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

Things may never change but its important that we try.