Forum | We must be honest about the direction the country is heading

Published 1:30 am Saturday, April 18, 2026

Herald Forum | The resurgence of racism

My name is Nadine Shanti, and I am 72 years old. When I was growing up in New Orleans, people made the most awful comments about me and people who looked like me… and they did it with impunity. I was not welcome in many churches, libraries, restaurants, and schools because of my color. I got pushed off a sidewalk because of my brown skin. Once, an entire hotel swimming pool emptied of people when I got in. These are not random stories that I read about. These things happened to ME in real time.

When my school took us to a school picnic a good distance away from New Orleans, the bus drivers had to find a place where whole busloads of black kids could go to the bathroom. Imagine that… just think about what that says about our society back then. We ended up going to a cabaret on the River Road where a black janitor sneaked us in while no one was looking. Even though I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I questioned “why” in my heart, and I understood that society thought there was something “wrong” with us. They thought that this was an appropriate understanding for black children to have…CHILDREN! Think about that. It was acceptable for black children to feel that there was something wrong with them simply because their skin was “different.”

And here we are again. I wake every morning now and feel I am living in a fresh hell. We all need to think about the young people in our lives. None of them should ever have to experience what I did as a child. We owe them better — and that responsibility belongs to all of us. Is this really the America we want to live in?

We must turn away from this. We must band together and stand up for the rights of everyday people. We are the workers, the neighbors, the caregivers, the ones who keep our communities going. Every day, we contribute our time, energy, and dedication. We deserve lives that reflect that effort — lives of dignity, fairness, and opportunity.

And yet, when we look at the roadblocks being put in place by those in power, it becomes clear that not everyone has the same chance to thrive. Increasingly, it feels as though only a narrow group — those with privilege and status — are being prioritized. That is not the promise of this country, and it is not the future we should accept.

I know this may be difficult to hear, but we must be honest about the direction the country is heading. We must see it clearly, speak about it openly, and reject it together.

Dignity, fairness and opportunity are still within our reach—but only if we act. We have the power to demand better, to push back, and to build a future that includes all of us. But it requires participation. It requires commitment. It requires us to show up and vote — in overwhelming numbers — and to keep showing up until these barriers of divisiveness are removed.

This is how we can protect the next generation. This is how we create a more just and equal future. And this is how we ensure that no one is left behind.

Nadine Shanti lives in Clearview.