America Was Founded on Violence. We All Need to Fight It—Every Day | Opinion

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In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. America was in deep despair and mourning. Opinions about this senseless and unacceptable killing were varied. Not everyone agreed with the President's policy decisions. He was not universally liked, but most people who gave public statements expressed requisite sorrow and disbelief about the president's death.

In comes Minister Malcolm X. He was asked by reporters to share his thoughts about the assassination of President Kennedy. He said the following:

"I don't think anybody here would deny that when you send chickens out in the morning from your barnyard, those chickens will return that evening to your barnyard, not your neighbor's barnyard. I think this is a prime example of the devil's chickens coming back home to roost."

At the time, Minister Malcolm's comments were condemned and viewed as extraordinarily harsh and insensitive. His bluntness caused a severe and swift backlash against him nationally and professionally.

His major point, which was missed at the time, was that the violent nature woven into the fabric of America had reached such a boiling point that the destructive spatter was penetrating the protective barriers of those at the highest levels of this country.

Fast forward to July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania, where there was an attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump. Speculation and misinformation swirled everywhere. Social media is still going wild.

On one side, there has been speculation that Trump staged this entire thing: It's fake. He's trying to get attention. On the other side, you've got accusations of a deep state assassination attempt.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The polarization of our political spaces was on full display. And while the spark for this recent unveiling was the assassination attempt against former President Trump, the fire of this corrupting condition was forged at the founding of this nation. As Dr. James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute and international pollster, pointed out in a recent social media post, "Political violence is as American as cherry pie. If we live in denial, we'll never change."

True that, Dr. Zogby. And the sooner we come to grips with this irrefutable fact, the sooner we can begin to heal and create a different path.

Donald J. Trump did not introduce political violence to this country. America was founded on violence. White supremacy, political violence, and policy violence all existed before former President Trump rose to power in 2016. Ask my ancestors, who were stolen from Africa and enslaved for hundreds of years, and continued to be brutalized by our political system decades after emancipation. Ask those who are Indigenous to this land, who were ethnically cleansed. Ask the millions of people around the world who have been the victims of western imperialism and the violence it is cloaked in. Ask Palestinians in Gaza who are being maimed and killed with bombs made in this country. Ask our LGBTQIA+ brothers and sisters who have been targeted by policy.

For too long, the idea that Donald Trump is the problem and not a symptom of this nation's ills has held us back from addressing root causes of issues our nation faces. Before Donald Trump was a central figure in the Republican Party, Tea Party Republicans hung effigies of former President Barack Obama. In the 60s, Black people and others were killed fighting for the right to vote. The idea that granting Black Americans the right to vote would destroy America manufactured consent to kill.

Ultimately, violence impacts us all, therefore the humanitarian in me cannot abide by callous violence. The attempt to take former President Trump's life was wrong. Political affiliations or policy disagreements should not be a determinant for who is worthy to live.

We cannot ignore the violence our country is rooted in. We have a violent economy, one that prioritizes war and homelessness for the good of corporate profits.

A nation founded in violence, whose economy is rooted in violence, will have a society that is violent. We not only can choose to be better, we must be better.

As I write this, it is still unclear what motivated the person who tried to assassinate former President Trump, but to me, it does not matter. The shooter's political affiliation does not matter. Who he donated to does not matter. These are trivial concerns compared to what happened. Innocent people were wounded and an innocent person died. This matters.

Reaching for our collective humanity and not giving in to our primal instincts of hate and violence matters. Trying to understand how and why we got here matters. We will not see a just society until we address these root issues.

I am reminded of a quote by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

To my fellow Americans, we have a decision to make.

We can take this moment in history and continue to delude ourselves about our violent past and present condition, relying on our most primitive instincts, or we can decide to come together and demand a humanitarian path forward. A path that sees respect for the human condition, one that ensures we take care of each other, one that does not determine a person's value based on who they voted for but instead recognizes the cardinal virtue of every human being–here and abroad.

Do we choose darkness and hate? Or do we choose light and love?

I know that I will choose light and love. We all should.

Nina Turner is a former Ohio state senator, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School, and the founder of We Are Somebody.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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