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Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Presidential Inauguration
Reflections on the Inauguration of Barak Obama
Bill Honer, (Copyright 2009)
The press coverage of the presidential inauguration offered another demonstration in unwarranted national pride. From the tone of many journalists and politicians, there was more pride than shame that less than 50 years ago, American Blacks and Latinos in the southern states, including Texas, could not attend the same schools, restaurants, and other public places, marry whites, or experience full participation within American Society. A sense of sadness and humility that such unjust and dehumanizing conditions were allowed to exist well into the 20th Century would not have been inappropriate.
Another example of excessive pride occurred during the discussion of the peaceful transition of power in America. America hardly has a monopoly on democratic institutions. Dozens of democracies around the world, from Britain to Japan, experience such orderly transitions in political power; there is nothing special about the routine transition of power within the United States that sets it apart from other democracies.
Indeed, one could make the case that if America had a parliamentary system, the nation would not have been saddled with George Bush for the full eight years.
As for the recurring theme of Americans’ belief in freedom, there is such a strong disconnection between the reality of the United States and the image held by its people. Surveys reveal that the roughly 50 percent of Americans naïvely believe that the United States attempts to “do good” in the world, rather than simply promoting its national interests. Few nations on earth have supported repression and dictatorship during the last 60 years more than the United States, having supported Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile, the Shah of Iran and numerous other tyrants. Few Americans know that the United States exported repression through teaching torture techniques to the police of various dictators who studied at the infamous School of the Americas in Georgia.
According to the United Nations 2008 Human Development Report, the United States is ranked 15th in overall human development, and 31st in life expectancy, slightly ahead of Cuba; these statistics are hardly a basis for pride. The nation currently has more than 45 million people without healthcare coverage and more than one million persons homeless. Under these circumstances, there is strong reason for Americans to feel humble about their nation. Unfortunately, American arrogance and pride still resonates with the majority of the American people, the media, and its political leaders. It would be gratifying to witness the arrival of a day when Americans consider themselves as equals to other democracies, with a more humble worldview. Viewing the United States in a more critical light might hasten a needed elevation of the quality of life in American society.
Bill Honer served as a Consultant to non-profit agencies in Hawaii and California. He has written more than eighty successful grant proposals that have generated more than ten million dollars in revenues for non-profit agencies and local government in California and Hawaii.
Mr. Honer has worked with a wide range of minority populations. In 1990, he founded and co-chaired The Coalition for Equity for Minorities, an advocacy group committed to social justice. After securing a B.A. in sociology, Mr. Honer pursued his graduate studies at the City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where he specialized in organizational theory and design. He was an instructor at Windward Community College in Hawaii, where he taught grant writing. He has lived on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca during many years.
During the period from 1994 to 2001, Mr. Honer was host and producer of Social Issues, a public affairs cable television program that was cablecast monthly in Sacramento and San Francisco. His articles on social conditions have been published in the United States, Costa Rica, and Spain. Mr. Honer is tri-lingual (English, French and Spanish).
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