John Lewis as Hero and Role Model — Letters that should have been in the new york times

To the editor:

Has this country ever been a 'community ... held together by a common story' (10.15.21, David Brooks, What America Means To Me: 2021)? In moving away from his childhood, sanitized view of this country's 'greatness' (a view with which I can identify given my own privileged white blue collar roots), Brooks speaks of the creative responses of 'humiliated people' ... 'flowing through American history.' But this is its own sanitized version and, at best, half the story.

Humiliation is like a cancer that can destroy the soul and weaken rather than empower those groups treated in a degrading way - this is common. What is rare is the capacity, the inner resilience, to not allow oneself to feel degraded. This capacity was epitomized by John Lewis who when beaten by the police insisted on making eye contact with his abuser. He insisted on asserting his humanity and appealing to the humanity of his abuser. Similarly, gay 'pride' as an activist slogan is a powerful antidote to shame and humiliation for these marginalized folks.

There is no feel good narrative about this country and the fortitude of those who do not succumb to humiliation and degradation without confronting head on the cruelty - sometimes intentional and sometimes inadvertent - of the oppressive structures we have put in place harming indigenous people, people of color, women, and the hardworking blue collar workers that keep our country running.

Respectfully,
Larry S. Sandberg