ANGELO LYNN

Being thankful isn’t always easy. That’s the realization many Vermonters may have post-election with a man unfit for the presidency in so many ways assuming power again, supported by a political party ever-more adjoined to him.

And yet the task we face is to embrace the battles ahead with confidence, courage and even optimism — not in a pollyannish way but supported by the nation’s history and its age-old battles for equity and justice. 

In a column this Tuesday, New York Times journalist Jamelle Bouie captured well the sentiment of famed African-American statesman Frederick Douglas in one of his last great speeches titled “Lessons of the Hour.” In it, Douglas, who had witnessed the freedom from slavery post-Civil War, then watched as the country regressed with the rise of the Jim Crow era toward the end of Reconstruction. In the 1894 speech, Douglas confronts his deep disappointment in the nation:

“I have sometimes thought that the American people are too great to be small, too just and magnanimous to oppress the weak, too brave to yield up the right to the strong and too grateful for public services ever to forget them or fail to reward them. I have fondly hoped that this estimate of American character would soon cease to be contradicted or put in doubt. But the favor with which this cowardly proposition of disfranchisement has been received by public men, white and black, by Republicans as well as Democrats, has shaken my faith in the nobility of the nation. I hope and trust all will come out right in the end, but the immediate future looks dark and troubled. I cannot shut my eyes to the ugly facts before me…

“Strange things have happened of late and are still happening. Some of these tend to dim the luster of the American name and chill the hopes once entertained for the cause of American liberty. He is a wiser man than I am who can tell how low the moral sentiment of this republic may yet fall. When the moral sense of a nation begins to decline and the wheel of progress to roll backward, there is no telling how low the one will fall or where the other may stop.

“But could I be heard by this great nation, I would call to mind the sublime and glorious truths with which, at its birth, it saluted a listening world. Its voice then was as the trumpet of an archangel, summoning hoary forms of oppression and time-honored tyranny, to judgment. Crowned heads heard it and shrieked. Toiling millions heard it and clapped their hands for joy. It announced the advent of a nation, based upon human brotherhood and the self-evident truths of liberty and equality. Its mission was the redemption of the world from the bondage of ages.”

Today, as the nation faces new trials from within, it’s important to remember the path toward justice and equity isn’t always a smooth arc. The fight can be torturous. Progress can backslide. It can be hugely disappointing. Yet, the nation’s guiding star has always been the self-evident truths of liberty and equality.

This election also teaches a more practical lesson — that our democracy is not just an idea, but that it has to benefit most Americans. Here’s a conclusion from a Washington Post editorial that encourages Democrats to start rebuilding first by making Blue States work better. “With the best of intentions, Democratic-run state governments have allowed burdensome regulations and bureaucratic inertia to stifle growth and allowed special interests to stymie construction of housing, infrastructure and other necessary projects… More and more drastic reform is needed, not just for the sake of the Democratic Party but for the sake of the cities and states where it dominates local politics. The residents of these places deserve cost-effective government. If they don’t get it, they’ll continue voting with their feet.”

Vermont Democrats would also do well to heed that advice.

And Bouie quotes J. Jacob Calhoun for Time with this post-election missive: “The political obstacles facing Democrats are dire, but it is the very existence of these threats that renders political engagement so important in the first place. Those disappointed by this month’s result should strive to emulate America’s first Black voters and allow the immense challenges ahead to instill in them ‘better encouragement and ambition.’”

EASY TO BE THANKFUL AT HOME

While it can be a struggle to find thanks on the national or global scene, it’s far easier closer to home. In Middlebury and Addison County the assets to treasure are clear:

• Middlebury College is vital in so many ways to so much of community life, it’s hard to imagine the town without its college. From casual student-town interactions to formal internships and volunteerism, athletics and the arts, public college events and lectures, the college helps create a vibrancy unmatched by towns our size.

• The county sits in the midst of an outdoor recreational paradise. In winter, the Middlebury Snowbowl and Rikert Outdoor Center are a family oasis. There’s hiking on hundreds of miles of trails throughout the county, mountain biking, road riding and numerous runs, triathlons, bike races and other events to keep the most ambitious challenged. For boaters it’s hard to beat Lake Champlain’s 100-miles of scenic beauty or the cozy beauty of Lake Dunmore. Inside, we have two fitness centers, a tennis center, skating rink, town rec facilities and more. 

• In the arts, Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater is host to over 200 events per year, including of the Opera Company of Middlebury, and is a partner with the decade-old Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. The College’s Mahaney Arts Center, the Vergennes Opera House and Holley Hall also feature great shows throughout the year.

• As editor, here’s a call-out to town and school boards who work selfishly to govern with transparency and honesty, doing hard work with little thanks; and for a state government that also serves without undue partisanship and without corruption and (for the most part) scandal.

• Addison County wouldn’t be who we are with the 25-plus social service agencies who help those in need, and of the many nonprofits who enrich our lives, such as the United Way of Addison County, ACORN, Middlebury Music Center, Rotary, Lions, VFW, American Legion, MALT, the county Chamber, Middlebury Better Partnership, Vergennes Partnership, Moosalamoo Association and so many others.

More personally, family and friends are the true treasures of any home, and at the Addison Independent, we extend our thanks to all of our correspondents, columnists, letter writers and supporters who help keep the paper vibrant and encourage us to be the best we can be. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all. 

Angelo Lynn