An Open Letter to the 2024 Graduates of Morehouse College - Guest Post by Bill McCusker

An Apology to Morehouse Graduates: Reflecting on President Biden's Divisive Commencement Address

It’s natural to wonder if democracy you hear about actually works for you. ~ What is democracy if Black men are being killed in the street? ~ What is democracy if a trail of broken promises still leave Black -- Black communities behind? ~ What is democracy if you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot? ~ And most of all, what does it mean, as we’ve heard before, to be a Black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure? … The rosary on the -- my wrist, the bust in my office remind me that faith asks you to hold on to hope, to move heaven and earth to make better days. ~ Well, that’s my commitment to you: to show you democracy, democracy, democracy is still the way.
Joe Biden, commencement address at Morehouse College May 19, 2024

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Foreword

It is an honor to present another post by my friend Bill McCusker, author of Fatherhood: In Pieces and A Not-So-Silent Night At Pop’s Place. Bill’s previous contributions to the Frederick R. Smith Speaks platform include:

• Playing With Fire (March 24, 2023)

• Too white? Too male? Too straight? Too bad (May 12, 2023)

• Killing America (January 13, 2024)

In addition, Bill supplied the artwork and inspiration for my essay Green New Deal Pop-Up Posters and More! (January 17, 2022). In his latest essay, he takes on Joe Biden’s May 19, 2024, commencement address at Morehouse College. Without further adieu, enjoy another essay by Bill McCusker, an exclusive to the “Speaks” platform.

An Open Letter to the 2024 Graduates of Morehouse College

Like millions of Americans, I have heard what President Biden delivered at the recent Morehouse College graduation ceremony. I’d like to offer you my apologies. I have never heard such an embarrassingly bleak, distorted, and hateful commencement address. You deserved better.

Using his familiar angry and strident tone, the president painted a picture of white supremacy lurking around every corner, killing black men in the streets, inflicting misery on you because you are black, and stealing your rightful share of the American dream. 

You deserved to hear a president say that our country, far from perfect, is unique among the countless countries that allowed slavery - across the world and throughout history - in that America fought a civil war in which hundreds of thousands of white combatants died to end the scourge. You deserved to hear a president affirm that most Americans are good and decent people…people of all colors and creeds who thirst for economic opportunity, individual liberty, and the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution that allow them to live in peace and pursue their dreams. The president stating that such dreams are beyond your reach because white America hates you is a lie and a national disgrace.

Are there racists in our country? Sure, but does that make us a racist country? Some Americans are lazy; does that make us a lazy country? Some Americans are stupid; does that make us a stupid country? Some Americans might be white supremacists, though, in my seventy-one years as a white male, I have never met one. We also have race hustlers, but that doesn’t mean fair and clear-thinking individuals should be duped into believing their self-serving nonsense about our being a racist country.

College graduates traditionally have begun to develop their ability to think critically and understand when they are being manipulated and misled. Hopefully, you were able to sniff out a feckless politician pandering for votes by depicting you as helpless victims and others as malevolent oppressors. You deserved honesty, wisdom, and perspective; not hype, opportunism, and divisiveness. You deserved to hear that your future success will draw on your intelligence, industry, courage, perseverance, gratitude, resilience, and a handful of other virtues — not on the empty promises and phony rhetoric of a cranky, would-be government caretaker. 

So please accept the congratulations of an admiring nation on your graduation. While a college degree is a laudable accomplishment, recognize that you are at the beginning of a long road, one that will include challenges along with hope and opportunity. Some of you will have it easier than others. For many there will be setbacks to overcome and heartbreaks to endure, not because you are black, but because you are human. Hopefully, these will be manageable, though there are no guarantees.

I am confident I represent the vast majority of Americans in joining your families and friends in congratulating you on your accomplishments to date. We wish you well and are rooting for your success in the future. We believe that great things await you if you have faith in America, embrace our time-tested values, believe in yourselves, continue to learn, set goals, and work hard to attain them.

Good luck, and God bless you all. 📕

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