Womanist Musings: The Stiffened Tree Cracks
“The stiffest tree is the most easily cracked, while the bamboo or the willow survives by bending with the wind.” — attributed to Bruce Lee
The Myth of Strength in Stiffness
In the current American political landscape, rigidity is masquerading as strength. There is a growing embrace of autocratic leadership, defined by an unwillingness to bend toward justice, equity, or democratic norms. And like the proverb suggests, this kind of stiffness will eventually break.
Recently, the U.S. elected a man convicted on 34 felony counts 1, who fomented a violent attempt to overturn a lawful election 2, and whose presidency consistently undermined democratic institutions 3. His political brand thrives on nationalist fervor, racial scapegoating, and performative masculinity—hallmarks of fascist ideology. His rigidity—his refusal to be accountable to law, custom, or basic human decency—is the very reason his political movement is so brittle.
A Heritage of Hardness: Racism’s Deep Roots
This hardening did not begin with Trump. It is rooted in a long American tradition of political inflexibility when Whiteness is threatened. From Jim Crow laws to redlining, from the Southern Strategy to today’s voter suppression efforts, White supremacy has always sought to stiffen systems—locking out those who bend toward liberation.
The embrace of authoritarianism is not simply about economic anxiety or political discontent. It is about protecting racial and gender hierarchies. When voters are presented with a competent, experienced Black woman leader—one with a record of prosecuting injustice, an advanced degree in economics, and decades of service—they reject her. Why? Because her existence threatens the rigid order they seek to maintain.
Disbelief is a Privilege
Many White Americans now express shock as their rights are rolled back: reproductive freedom, access to education, legal protection. But those of us in historically excluded communities are not surprised. The policies that harm them now—forced birth, book bans, voter purges—are extensions of tactics used to control Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities for generations.
White voters who assumed that authoritarian policies would only impact “others” are now watching their own daughters become subjects of surveillance and control. Latinx communities who supported Trump’s anti-immigrant stance are seeing their own family members deported 4. Rural populations that once believed they were immune now face closed hospitals and economic collapse as a result of destructive tariffs and labor shortages 5.
The Price of Eggs—and the Cost of Silence
Inflation and supply chain instability—driven in part by isolationist trade policies and mismanaged tariffs—have harmed the very voters who claimed Trump’s economic populism would work in their favor. According to a 2024 economic analysis, Trump's trade war with China alone cost the U.S. $1.7 trillion in economic gains 6.
But the greater cost has been moral. How many were comfortable with overt racism, misogyny, cruelty, and corruption simply because they felt personally insulated from its consequences?
“Could You Not Stay Awake?”: The Biblical Mandate for Awareness
The spiritual parallels are unmistakable. In Matthew 26:36–46 (also found in Mark 14:32–42 and Luke 22:39–46), Jesus retreats to Gethsemane knowing that an existential crisis is unfolding. As he prays—sweating blood, according to Luke—his disciples fall asleep. Repeatedly. Jesus warns them: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matthew 26:41, NIV)
Their sleep was not physical exhaustion alone—it was spiritual avoidance. A refusal to stay present in a moment of moral reckoning. Today, we see that same sleep manifest in political disengagement, the rejection of historical truth, and the demonization of “wokeness.”
To be woke—to be aware—is treated as a threat by those invested in the preservation of White male dominance. Banning books, censoring curriculum, and attacking DEI programs are not neutral acts. They are efforts to impose a sleep so deep it erases the memory of past resistance and blocks the possibility of future change.
Ignorance as Intentional Strategy
This is no accident. It is deliberate. When people say, “If we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it,” some in power seem to respond: “Then let’s forget it.” The goal is not just to forget. It is to remake. To return to a past where the tree of White supremacy stood tall, unchallenged by winds of justice.
What we are witnessing is not a return to tradition but a revolt against progress. The desire is not stability—it is control.
The Crack Is Coming
But there is hope.
Rigid systems eventually collapse under their own weight. The stiffer the tree, the greater the break. This is a warning and a promise. No empire built on oppression is everlasting. The question is not if it breaks—but when, and who will be there to plant anew.
We must stay awake. Not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. Because as Jesus told his disciples, it is the only way to prepare for what is coming next.
Stay tuned for Part II: The Root Work.
Footnotes
The New York Times. “Trump Found Guilty on 34 Counts.” 2024.
U.S. Department of Justice. United States v. Donald J. Trump (January 6 Case).
Freedom House. “United States: Decline in Democratic Standards, 2016–2020.”
American Immigration Council. “Deportations of U.S. Citizens: A Growing Concern.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Farm Labor Shortages and Economic Impacts.”
Peterson Institute for International Economics. “The Real Cost of Trump's Tariffs.”
