Fred Johnson | Perspectives on Democracy скачать в хорошем качестве

Fred Johnson | Perspectives on Democracy

For native Virginian, Dr. Fred L. Johnson III, the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd; the January 6, 2021 Washington, D.C. insurrection; and the grossly latent revelations (for so many Americans) about the June 1921 Tulsa Race Riot exemplified trends within America’s republican -democracy which were simultaneously dangerous and disturbing but not surprising. Those trends were grim reminders of the hostile realities Fred confronted when, after spending half his childhood at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, his father, a twenty-year Air Force veteran, was transferred to Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George’s County, Maryland (just outside of Washington D.C.). A slave state before and during the Civil War, Maryland had done its part in resisting the hoped-for progress of the Civil Rights Movement. By the time Fred Johnson arrived in the state, African Americans still struggled to fully exercise their rights as first-class citizens. Witnessing for himself the lethal legacy of Jim Crow segregation and its enabling violence (as had been described to him by his Montgomery, Alabama raised parents), Fred began searching America’s historical record for insights explaining how and why so many had de-prioritized the aspirational vision of “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,” articulated in the Declaration of Independence. He likewise sought to understand what had moved so many of his fellow Americans, North and South, to tolerate or embrace, the toxic perspectives of leaders like Alabama Governor George Wallace who in his January 14, 1963 inauguration speech declared, “Segregation now. Segregation tomorrow. And segregation forever.” The quest to identify the factors and influences that kept causing the world’s greatest multiracial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, pluralistic democracy to repeatedly fall short of its own stated ideals and values relative to freedom, liberty, opportunity, and justice, motivated Fred to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in History & Teacher Education at Bowie State College (now University) in Bowie, Maryland. Viewing military service as his generation’s obligation to renew the legacy of African Americans who’d overcome staunch resistance to win and legitimize for blacks the right to full-citizenship by fighting in conflicts from the American Revolution, to the Civil War, up to and past Vietnam, Fred continued searching America’s historical record while serving as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Subsequent to his service in the Marine Corps, Fred worked as a Production Scheduler for Packard-Electric Division of General Motors in Warren, Ohio, an Operations Specialist for Continental Page Telecommunications in Fairfax, Virginia, and as a Corporate Trainer for Goodyear Aerospace Corporation (now Aircraft Braking Systems) in Akron, Ohio. He earned his Masters and Doctorate degrees at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio and in 2015, while teaching full-time at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, Fred graduated from nearby Western Theological Seminary, earning his Masters of Divinity degree. While doing research in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, Fred conducted comparative governmental analyses of various nations on those continents with the American model, concluding that while not a perfect union the United States nevertheless presents an attractive but inherently fragile example of a republican-democracy. Using his lifetime of experience, observation, and education, Fred has sought to ensure that the students he’s been privileged to instruct at Hope College are fully informed about the precious gift of their democracy and the necessity of protecting it from foreign and domestic threats. Read Fred's full bio here: https://www.symposiumondemocracy.org/... Connect with W&J! https://www.washjeff.edu   / wjcollege     / wjcollege