By Eric McDaniel, Ph.D., 10th Episcopal District
A critical objective of the Make America Healthy Again Movement (MAHA) has been decreasing the consumption of ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods, like soda and snacks, are derivatives of whole foods, created through formulations that enable mass, low-cost production. These foods have been chemically treated and contain high amounts of additives, like salt and sugar, to make them more pleasing to taste, while possessing little nutritional value. Further, UPFs are linked to numerous health dangers, such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. The growth of these foods has created an epidemic of malnutrition among Americans, which has caused the health of the nation to be in decline.
In observing the current political climate along with the previous six decades of the post-civil rights era, Black Americans have been given ultra-processed freedoms. Unlike whole freedoms, which foster a strong civil society and democracy, Black Americans have been given something that looks like freedom, tastes like freedom, but is severely deficient in providing the nutrients of freedom. The post-civil rights era has been viewed as a feast for Black Americans as they made gains in political, social, and economic freedom. However, the current political climate demonstrates that these freedoms were symbolic rather than substantive. Blacks may have consumed the calories associated with freedom but gained little of the value associated with whole freedom. In the short term, these “symbolic” freedoms have made Black people feel full, but over the course of time, we have found them to be nutritiously deficient when it comes to freedom.
Like ultra-processed foods, these ultra-processed freedoms are cheap to produce, and with proper packaging, they almost taste like whole freedom. These cheap derivatives of actual freedom make the nation look like it is a healthy liberal democracy, based on meritocracy and equality. However, the observation of incarceration rates, growing racial wealth divide, and mortality rates demonstrate that Blacks are malnourished when it comes to freedom. The reason for this is that the fruit packaged as freedom is the toxic produce of the poisoned tree of White supremacy. While the nation may have attempted to prune the tree, it still suffers from the same infestation which has rotted its fruits.
Many hold the misconception that the civil rights movement either eradicated or severely diminished the infestation, but they have come to realize that it simply became less noticeable. This is evident in the follow-up to the lauded 1954 Brown v Board decision. When asked about the timetable to accomplish the goals of the Brown decision, in 1955, the court stated that school desegregation should be done “with all deliberate speed.” This fractured the freedom Blacks thought they gained in 1954. By providing states and localities with a vague timeline, they made it symbolic rather than substantive. This is evidenced in the fact that it took more than 60 years for some districts to be desegregated.
Too many of the perceived gains in rights and freedoms for Blacks have been altered in such a way that they became vapid. The acts of racial equality are akin to cosplay, such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praising the establishment of a Black history monument on the grounds of the state capitol, only to deride teaching Black history and ban state schools from engaging in the celebration of Black history five years later.
The emptiness of the nation’s commitment to whole freedom is evident every January as politicians invoke a weak and shallow derivative of Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. that has turned his dream into a nightmare. In their attempt to make King the antidote to Black frustration, they forget that he began his speech at the 1963 March on Washington by stating the event was to “come to our nation’s capital to cash a check.” They did not come for an IOU, gift card, or store credit. They came for their freedom in whole, but the nation filed for bankruptcy.
Accompanying this ultra-processed and toxic freedom, the nation continues to produce an ultra-processed and toxic theology. Instead of embracing a faith that affirms the humanity of all, they have weaponized the faith to determine who is human. In doing so, they have promoted the blasphemy that empathy is toxic, and domination is divine. Their ultra-processed faith cannot list its ingredients because, if it did, it would have to admit how poisonous and malnourished it truly is. Freedom built on the oppression of others is no freedom at all. How can the enslaver really be free if he must sleep with a gun under his pillow?
In the face of this, what do we do next? A Black nationalist perspective would argue that the tree can never be cured of its infestation and therefore Black people should plant their own tree and let this one die. Black conservatives argue that it is not that toxic and to stop complaining and be happy that the tree gives any fruit at all. The Black nihilist, who is no longer able to hope or dream, believes the tree is already dead and continues to eat bits of the fruit, believing a storm will come along to topple it over.
Each of these perspectives speaks to the variety of ways Blacks cope with the toxicity of the nation. However, each fails to treat the disease or prevent its spread. What is truly needed is a democratic and theological revival that eradicates the disease with proper pruning, treatments, and continued care. For centuries, Black scholars and activists have worked as the arborists of the nation’s tree of freedom. They have repeatedly presented the nation with a care plan to make it healthy and produce nutritious fruit. In the face of the needed injections to rid it of disease and decay, the nation became an antivaxxer. The nation decided to seal the bark and overfertilize to make its tree look healthy while still producing toxic fruit. These actions embodied Shakespeare’s line “conscience does make cowards of us all.”
The mission of Make America Healthy Again is to reduce the production and consumption of ultra-processed foods and make it easier to access whole foods. For American democracy, we must push out ultra-processed freedoms to provide whole freedoms.
