History Is Repeating in Ferguson - Here, Have Some Sources. - Mary Robinette Kowal
In May of 1919, W. E. B. Du Bois published an essay called, “Returning Soldiers.”
We return from the slavery of uniform which the world’s madness demanded us to don to the freedom of civil garb. We stand again to look America squarely in the face and call a spade a spade. We sing: This country of ours, despite all its better souls have done and dreamed, is yet a shameful land….
We return.
We return from fighting.
We return fighting.
He wrote it because of the racially motivated riots that swept the country in the summer of 1919, which became known as The Red Summer.
More: History Is Repeating in Ferguson - Here, Have Some Sources. - Mary Robinette Kowal
This is an important thing to remember - There is no new thing under the sun and we’ve had these kinds of riots, blamed on the victims rather than the perpetrators, before.
In America the fight for freedom has always been two steps forward and 1 and 3/5ths steps backward. The post I’ve linked to gives us reminders of why, despite the Chief Justice’s fantasy life, the fight is not now and never will be over. It is something all people of good will must unite so that all of us can make Progress.