“These men ask for just the same thing: fairness, and fairness only. This is, so far as in my power, they and all others, shall have.” Abraham Lincoln

Until recently, many preferred to believe that inequality was mostly a thing of the past. Women and minorities had made so many profound strides that it was easy to believe that social intolerance was well on its way out. But if there's one thing the years since 2016 have taught us, it is that it has remained alive and thriving in an insidious underground of bigotry and hate.

Some months ago I made the acquaintance of a man who had immigrated from Africa a decade ago. A quiet, genial, respectable man, he was a farmer by trade and all he really wanted was to become a farmer once again. So he searched for the right piece of land that would allow him to meet that simple goal. And it should have remained simple.

Fast forward to last week when I chanced to meet him again. I was curious to learn how the purchase of the land he had told me about had gone. There was no bitterness in his response. Only a sense of sad acceptance of the facts of life as it pertains to the American southland.

I learned that upon meeting the original seller, the things they had discussed so pleasantly over the phone were suddenly gone by the wayside. When communicating over the phone, he had been treated with respect and acceptance, and the usual terms were discussed openly as equals. When he arrived to finish the sale, however, those verbal agreements had morphed into a demand for an increased amount of money to be paid in cash, in full, and up front. Of course he was unable to meet those new terms so his dream of farming once again retreated into the realm of “yet to be realized,” where he repeatedly attempted to buy some land only to be tossed upon the shores of racial conspiracy.

This man continues to quietly pursue his dreams despite the many setbacks he has encountered because individuals find his race unacceptable and somehow less than human. He remains resolute, believing that one day the right piece of land and the right seller will cross his path. In the meanwhile, he works two jobs to support his family and refuses to even consider government aid, though he easily qualifies for it. He believes in a job well done and that there is no such thing as demeaning work so long as it is honest.

We may have been well on our way to becoming more of an equal society but recent years have seen us return to a way of thinking that goes very much against what America should stand for. This man came to America to follow a dream. He wasn't out to steal anyone's job or take society's money. He wanted only to resume his life as a simple farmer and become a resident of a country where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are sacred rights. Instead he has been met with an attitude of “Unwelcome to America. Now go back where you belong.”

Shame on those who actively express that sentiment. And shame on those of us who let them.