America in Dark Tunnel by Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D. Emeritus Professor of Sociology

Monday, February 23rd, 2026

America in Dark Tunnel

By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.

Emeritus Professor of Sociology

When I taught college for 41 years, I heavily depended on the metaphor of the dark tunnel for my graduating seniors. At the beginning of the 16-week Spring semester, I would tell the class they better be ready because we were about to enter a long dark tunnel at the end of which they would emerge to graduate.

The tunnel had ten to fifteen course assignments that included tests, ten quizzes, papers, class group discussions, exams, research semester project papers, and numerous oral presentations.

Besides my class, the graduating seniors had 4 or 5 other equally demanding classes they had to pass.

During the middle of the semester when all the heavy assignments were keeping them busy, I would ask the class if they could see the light at the end of the dark tunnel.

There was a serious slow shaking of heads that conveyed “Are you kidding me?” If you enjoy teaching, there is always banter between students and the professor.

In one class of graduating seniors during one Spring, I had a graduating senior, Jane, with whom I had banter back and forth with in class during the semester.

All the assignments including the major research project were behind us. All that remained were the final exam and then the graduation ceremony. I asked the class if they could see light at the end of the dark tunnel yet. There were unanimous yesses with smiles. Jane raised her hand.

“Prof. Tembo, I still cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel!” she said with a straight face. The class roared with laughter.

“Jane,” I said, shaking my head slowly and feigning disappointment. “I am really disappointed in you. If you cannot see the light, I will give you my glasses,” I said, taking reading glasses off my nose holding them toward her. There was more laughter.

America is in the middle of a dark tunnel. Durin the 250 years since its birth, the country has lived through numerous dark tunnels which included major wars. President Lincoln would not have known that the union would still hold after the Civil War.

Americans could not have known that they would succeed on D- Day in Europe perhaps during one of the darkest moments during World War II during the Allied fight against NAZI Germany and the American fight against Japan. There were the tumultuous Civil Rights era and the Vietnam War.

If you are not aware today that we are living in a dark tunnel, you might be among the 39% Americans polls suggest still support this President and this administration inspite all the terrible things they have instigated the last year.

Harris won 74,470,093 votes (48.25%), Trump won 76,957,993 votes which is 49.87% of the voting total of 154,330,46348.

Trump won only by 1.62% contrary to his hoopla that he won by a landslide mandate that empowers him and his administration to do anything they want.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is causing violations of the constitution and civil rights abuses, widespread violence, racial profiling, and ICE agents shooting to deaths of  2 innocent American citizens in Minneapolis in Nicole Goode and Alex Pruitt.

These are the martyrs of this American resistance to this fascist and authoritarian government.

None of us voted for this chaos and cruelty of the mass deportations. What happened to affordability and lowering of the price of eggs?

When I first heard on the news that morning about the decisive 6-3 Supreme Court ruling striking down the Trump Tariffs, millions of Americans and I were overjoyed.

We thought we could see a small light at the end of the dark American tunnel we are living in.

Two major small distant lights at the end of this dark tunnel may be the November 2026 mid-term elections and the 2028 Presidential elections. Alas, that small light was snuffed out.

Trump held a press conference three hours later in which the small light was blown out; he was going to maintain the chaotic tariffs which you and I pay when we buy imported consumer goods.

There was one very vital lesson I learned during those three short hours when I was happy the tariffs would be eliminated; when you live through this American dark tunnel, you have to learn to enjoy, cherish, and celebrate small victories along the way.

This is how Americans have survived the dark tunnels during the growing of the American nation.

These small moments of victory do not necessarily have to do with politics.

They may be small victories in your personal life. It could be a birthday celebration, a newborn, a potluck dinner or lunch at church, talking and laughing with friends, success in school, work, sports, participating in No Kings demonstrations and other protests of resistance.

It occurred to me that this is how individuals in particular and America in general have lived through dark tunnels of personal lives as well as the collective life of the nation.