WS Chronicle

By James B. Ewers Jr.

The media has given America a sobering look at itself. For some who look like me, it is not a good look. Our traditional institutions are failing us. The attributes for a good life are at the top of the chart and we are at or near the bottom struggling to achieve the American Dream.

I don’t mind the struggle. In fact, I believe the struggle makes you appreciate what you have and what you have accomplished. America is in a limbo state of mind. In too many instances, we have lost our way.

Too many of our leaders don’t lead. They are simply placeholders. They are either afraid or take benign positions on issues of the day. We have people in federal positions who may not belong there. For example, I have admired and respected Dr. Ben Carson for many years. His work as a neurosurgeon has gained him worldwide acclaim. Because of his skills and talents, he has provided hundreds of families with renewed hope and a better life.

I led a reading group of middle school boys and one of the books we read was “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story.” The book inspired my guys to believe you could achieve despite your circumstances. Does Dr. Carson’s professional experiences qualify him to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development? That question is debatable depending upon what you think qualifies you for that position.

Political appointments are made, so we must live with them or do we have to live with them if we vote?  If there is one tool we the people have which makes evil go away, it is the vote. If we want our voices to be heard, we must use our voting power. Right now, we have people in powerful offices simply because we didn’t vote. We didn’t vote in the last election because we thought our neighbor was going to vote, so we sat at home. But our neighbor thought we were going to vote, so he stayed at home.

So nobody voted and everyone stayed at home. Now, we have a group of Washington officials who are callous, cold and insensitive. Who separates children from their families? Who plays around with healthcare like it’s a beachball? How can a person become secretary of Education and have little to no experience in the field? How can our President embrace Putin one day and then the next day walk it back?

These things happen when we take a day off and not vote. We must show up in record numbers at each election. Too many lives were lost and too many sacrifices were made for us to sit back and relax. If you and I want to see evil replaced by good, then we must find ourselves inside of a voting booth. Bad can’t exist when good overwhelms it.

The midterm elections will be here soon. We will be able to exercise our influence at the polls. The upheaval of injustice that we are currently experiencing will go away when we vote. These agendas against humanity can only happen when we remain silent. We are morally sick right now, so we must bring in the “voting doctor” for a cure.

Our vote has never been so important as it is now. Let’s use it.

James B. Ewers  Jr. Ed.D. is a former tennis champion at Atkins High School in Winston-Salem and played college tennis at Johnson C. Smith University, where he was all-conference for four years. He is a retired college administrator.  He can be reached at ewers.jr56@yahoo.com.