When I Think of Courage?

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the determination to face it.

When I think of courage, I think of my father joining the Navy at 17 during WWII and coming home at 21. I think of his brothers and his future brothers in law doing the same. I think of the freedom walkers during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. I think of the freedom riders. I think of my quail hunting friend, pastor, and mentor who before he came to us in 1967 stood against Jim Crow racism in Belzoni, Mississippi, and was fired after 21 years as a pastor there. I think about nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleson, who welcomed Dylan Roof into their Bible study before he murdered them to ignite a race war.

I think of my mother’s grace and courage when she refused treatment for her last battle with cancer and my sister’s less than two years later. I think of a local friend who needed a kidney transplant and another friend who matched her and donated one of theirs. I think of a lone man standing in front of a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 uprising. I think of courage large and small, and I wonder if enough of us will find ours, will find enough to stand against the threats we face, will find enough to at least vote for what we know is right. I wonder and I wait and hope.

Part One of To Kill a Mockingbird ends with Atticus comforting Jem the night Mrs. Dubose dies. He says, “I wanted you to see something about her — I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway, and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

Reading to Mrs. Dubose every afternoon was Jem’s punishment for destroying her prized camellias. What Jem didn’t know was that his reading was a distraction for her as she struggled to overcome her longstanding addiction to morphine. She wanted to be clear headed when she died. In the end she was. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, the courageous Mrs. Dubose won. So did Jem.

I think about Liz Cheney, the 3rd ranking Republican in the House of Representatives and the most Republican of Republicans who saw the truth of the election and the January 6 insurrection and co-chaired the House investigation of the event. After being stripped of her leadership role she was defeated in her reelection bid. I think of Adam Kinzinger who suffered the same fate.

Senator James Lankford was the chief negotiator for the Republicans who came to a bipartisan bill that gave the Republicans everything they wanted in border protections only to have Donald Trump tell Republicans not to pass the bill because he needs the border turmoil as a campaign issue. Lankford courageously stood up for the bill and is being criticized and faces censure by Oklahoma Republicans.

Will we stand with courage against the ridiculous and insane tactics of the right and Trump’s Republican Party? There are truths we must face, and facing truths, hard ones, takes courage. Facing our personal truths is step one; too many of us are not willing. We have become comfortable and complacent. It is too easy to see what is wrong, to see things we don’t like, but hide inside the comfort of long-standing ideas, habits, and beliefs. It is too easy to take shelter behind the ideas that we can’t have an impact, and that “fixing” things is someone else’s job. We hired someone else, we elected someone else to take care of this for us. We are only one, and one can’t do anything.

The rise of authoritarian and fascist movements in America is alarming, but these movements are not new. History shows us these ideas are always active here and across the world. The resurgence of these ideologies, characterized by extreme nationalism, suppression of opposition, and often, the vilification of minority groups, threaten the foundational democratic principles of equality, liberty, and justice for all. We personalize this threat in Donald Trump, JD Vance, Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis, and many others. Too often we think that if these people are defeated in elections, the threat to American Democracy will end. When we allow ourselves to think this, we are wrong.

Donald Trump campaigned in South Carolina over the weekend. As usual, he said some amazing things that would’ve been considered treasonous in the not-too-distant past. He encouraged Russia under Putin to invade some of our NATO allies. The statement is not particularly surprising. We’ve heard this and more from him. What is still surprising is that his audience cheered the statement. Cheered. Who are these people and from what viewpoint does their approval of him come?

A few days before the 2020 Presidential election, Professor Eddie Glaude, Jr explained this problem as well as it could be explained on Deadline Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace. His explanation begins at approximately 16:30 in the attached video.

Professor Glaude with Nicole Wallace

Trump supporters’ approval of him and others like him comes from their fear, their hate, and their racism. They fear losing white America, they fear losing power, and they fear the others, any and all others.

History tells us time and again that authoritarian and fascist movements gain momentum when good people remain silent. Silence, whether born from fear, indifference, or uncertainty, serves as tacit approval enabling their rise to power. I won’t even go so far as to say everyone must speak out. If we care about our country, we should care enough to vote. The right-wing thugs who have taken the call to stand outside voting locations are simply trying to keep Americans from voting. Why do they fear the vote? They know, as we do, that if good people vote, they will always lose.

Standing against authoritarian and fascist movements in America in whatever way you choose cannot be overstated. It is the bedrock upon which the defense of democracy and the protection of individual freedoms stand. In the face of rising authoritarianism, it is the courage of individuals that will ensure the survival of democratic values for future generations. The fight against authoritarianism and fascism is a fight for the very soul of America. It is a fight that requires the courage of us all, and if your courage says speak out, then speak out. If your courage says run for office, then run for office. If your courage says march and protest, then march and protest. If your courage says vote for our America, then vote for our America.

Paraphrasing Edward R Murrow: We will not walk in fear of one another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, we will stand.