The New York Amsterdam News has had a long tradition of bringing voices to the forefront to push back when it comes to civil rights, human rights, racial, economic, environmental, and tech justice.
Knowing this, our editorial team decided to take a look at where we really are as a country during the months and weeks leading up to America’s semiquincentennial. Fifty years ago, during the bicentennial, America was still left sore over the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, and urban unrest. By 1976, Americans were dealing with spiking oil prices, inflation, and an uncertain future. It seemed like a different world than the one we’re living in now, but is it?
We remain feverishly divided in our politics, despite seeing better economic times before; our dollar does not buy nearly as much as it did at the turn of the century. We are involved in a war that seems to have no purpose, started by a corrupt president who pretends he knows what he’s doing. If people are not angry, they are apathetic or simply afraid.
So we wanted to bring out voices that will question America about where we are right now. Our intention is to be provocative and elicit real dialogue. The purpose is to shine a light on our national discussion on race and equity, something we feel permeates just about every political issue we have. It’s an uncomfortable conversation, and we wouldn’t be us if we weren’t striking that match.
The way to do this was to expand what we normally do with our op-ed page and invite numerous voices who were interested in commenting on America’s 250th anniversary. While many will wave the Stars and Stripes, revel in patriotic images, and celebrate what America has imagined itself to be, we’re being real about the narrative the country seems to be engaged in. The racist rhetoric that has become government policy, the severing of women’s rights, the scorched earth attacks on voting rights, the malevolence toward people who were not born in this country, the compulsion to erase Black history, and the fervor to pretend all of this is okay.
The authors you’ll read in this issue speak to these things and more. They are here to inspire dialogue — and encourage action and so do we. That means we want you to vote. We want you to get involved in your communities. We want you to read media (with a discerning eye). We want you to talk to each other. We want you to quit doomscrolling and create third spaces where you exchange ideas. This is how democracies strengthen. This is how people fortify themselves against tyrants.
America has hit 250 trips around the sun. If we’re getting another 250 trips, it’s up to you to be the pilot.
