History marches on, despite the refusal of some people to march with it, or the attempt of conservatives following William F. Buckley's lead to stand athwart history and shout, No! My formative years were spent in an American South which tried precisely that tactic--No! No! Never! Fergit, hell!--brandishing its bibles as it kicked and screamed.
But history moved on. The kicking and screaming and bible-brandishing accomplished nothing but to deepen our isolation, our inbred resistance to social changes that promised to make life better for all of us, so that we Southern whites spited our faces as we cut off our noses to spite people of color and the rest of the nation, insofar as other Americans were reassessing our nation's legacy of ugly racism.
History moves sometimes at a painful snail's pace, and it sometimes sees heart-breaking reversals of progressive change, as with the Supreme Court's gutting of the Voting Rights Act this past week. But it also moves with astonishing speed at times, due to the valor and commitment of individuals who know that they stand on the side of human rights, of decency and fairness and love, and will not give up.
No matter how loudly the naysayers shout, kick, scream, and thump their bibles from which all the texts about love, justice, and mercy--which is to say, virtually the entire canon--have been expunged.
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