CULTURE CLASH (Feature)
By Earnest Mann
IN 1858, TWO YEARS BEFORE BECOMING PRESIDENT, ABRAHAM LINCOLN LOST THE RACE TO BECOME THE SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS. Still, in accepting his party’s nomination as their candidate, Lincoln spoke words that continue to resonate for us today: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Here, Lincoln was speaking about a nation on the verge of being rent asunder. Then, as now, there was a notion that our nation is a compendium of ideals, of values, of historical narrative. This is true. Without ideals, values, and history, a nation has no sense of place, nor a sense of self. The crux of the matter however, is that all of these elements must absolutely reside in the citizens, the people of a nation, and not be wholly the product of a media-driven political reality. There must be a genuinely inherent sense of cohesion (even if that sense is a product of our cultural institutions) that binds us all together to see ourselves as a nation, as Americans. To be sure, America is a socially dynamic thing. But, without this sense of self, divisions emerge and, if left unabated, will inevitably continue to fray the edges of the national fabric until the day comes that it is, indeed, no longer a nation. When citizens are pitted against citizens, when division is the hallmark of our being, we cannot stand. Yet, when our leaders distort the view of how to keep us safe in order to divide us with surgical cuts along value lines, when our history is discarded and replaced with fabrications, what are we to do as nation but see chaos take hold? Hope for a better world is what we hang onto – and certainly it is something Gen Z, alongside some older folks, is fighting for now. What is the compendium of ideals, values, and history that construct the community of Galveston – who are we, what is our vision, and how do we realize it? One thing is certain, our population is diverse, but our government is not and has never been. Increasingly, as Boomer retirees see a better value here without having to relocate to places like Costa Rica or Ecuador, as they 16
Racial power inequity abounds in our 21st century Galveston. Though Blacks and non-White Hispanics make up nearly 30% of the population, of the population of the 23 members of the most powerful Galveston government agencies – City Council, the Park Board of Trustees, and the Wharves Board of Trustees – only one representative is a person of color.
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