Stop Doubting America and Americans as a Force for Good

By Robert L. Woodson Sr.

Friday, May 27, 2022

 

If you got all your information from television, you would naturally assume America’s future is bleak. Depending on the station you watch, you might assume we are destined to be consumed by a fiery ball of either poverty and racism or crime and reverse-racism.

 

Only in the last 90 seconds of your local news broadcast do you occasionally catch a story or two about the countless men and women who have overcome these very real obstacles to accomplish something remarkable or help their fellow man. Unfortunately, these individuals and their communities are treated as ancillary human-interest stories, rather than the key to our country’s renewal.

 

The fierce determination to overcome obstacles and solve problems — instead of being defeated by them — is a central part of the American character. It’s what has enabled the success of the incredible individuals and communities we at the Woodson Center have served over the years.

 

That is why I am proud to have signed on to National Review’s recent statement in defense of America. To overcome the self-doubt and polarization of our present moment, we must channel America’s energy away from blaming and complaining toward the productive problem-solving that we do best.

 

To start, we need to tell the success stories of American heroes. The Book of Proverbs says that “without a vision, the people lose restraint.” We as a country are sorely in need of the vision provided most compellingly by accounts of remarkable figures of the past and present who overcame the challenges of poverty and discrimination and showed us the best of our country’s character.

 

Amid the existential panic on both sides, there is inspiration all around us, if only we bothered to look and listen.

 

For instance, how many know the story of Bass Reeves, who was born into slavery in the 19th century, freed himself, and became the first African-American U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi? Or Bessie Coleman, who was born to poor sharecroppers in Texas and who became the first African-American woman aviator?

 

Or the Woodson Center’s own Sylvia Bennett-Stone, who overcame the murder of her 19-year-old daughter to lead our Voices of Black Mothers United initiative that now serves families of homicide victims in 22 states, and works with law enforcement to make communities safer for everyone?

 

Too many intellectuals, journalists, and pundits make a living bemoaning what is wrong in our country, showing far more interest in the disease than in the cure. If we’re ever going to get anywhere, we have to move beyond obsessing over our problems and look instead at the people — past and present — who actually triumph over those very problems. We must also renew our interest in the voluntary associations — churches, synagogues, and neighborhood groups — that have played and still play a vital role in our renewal.

 

People coming together to solve problems in their own communities is America is at its best. Our Constitution was designed for a barn-raising people, not for those who sit around complaining about the inequitable distribution of barns.

 

Throughout U.S. history, these organizations of human effort built entire towns, addressed an endless variety of social problems, and, notably, enabled countless members of a formerly enslaved race to both survive and thrive in a time when much of the country remained largely hostile to their presence.

 

Now more than ever, we need to remember and celebrate these testimonies of resilience.

 

That is why the Woodson Center recently launched our Center for the Study of Resilience to serve as a virtual repository for the resilience research scattered across the country. In addition to showcasing multi-disciplinary studies, we will give voice to grassroots leaders whose work and experience hold the key to the next era of making neighborhood renewal and upward mobility a reality in every corner of America.

 

Our hope is that this will spur a renaissance of research, storytelling, and a renewed emphasis on capacity over deficit and character over victimhood.

 

There are heroes all around us, if only we bothered to look. Community leaders are fighting every day to curb violence in their neighborhoods through youth intervention, job training, and fostering better relationships with law enforcement. Teachers, coaches, and tutors are working extra hours to help struggling kids realize their potential. Churches and neighborhood organizations are doing yeoman’s work helping families lift themselves out of poverty.

 

This is the real America, and it’s the America we should be talking about.