Monday Musings
While the President resists being labelled “racist,” his own record and spoken words militate against him. This being the case, no one should hesitate to accuse where these accusations are factual, and no one should hesitate to hold the President accountable for his hand in racially, ethnically motivated, alt-right violence. No one ought to be shy in condemning him for adding fuel to prejudicial, bigoted, hate-filled ideas and perspectives, thoughts and feelings and beliefs.
Conversely, no one should stand in his defense, and only those who are themselves ethnocentric bigots and crazed nationalists (which is fundamentally different than patriotism) will, in fact, defend him. And it is, indeed, a very sad day in the United States when millions of people do just that in defending the morally indefensible. And yet racism never really died in this country; it simply went underground … kind of, sort of. Now because of one man nationalism, bigotry and masochism are acceptable.
Well, at least these perspectives and attitudes have once again become openly acceptable is some quarters of America. Tragically, we are witnessing the fear-and-hate-driven resurrection of white supremacy, and the fear comes most obviously from the increasing numbers of the non-white population in this nation. Put simply, many conservative white folks are simply afraid of being taken over. And isn’t it interesting that this same group always refers itself to “our nation” or “our country?”
This is their convinced belief, though, that the United States is really, in some special sense, their country. As if African, Latino, Oriental and Native Americans have no claim on America. And it doesn’t matter that the Indigenous peoples were here long before Europeans began to settle North America (and Central and South America, too, for that matter.) It doesn’t seem to matter that most African Americans can trace their roots in this country back to a time well before the ancestors of most Caucasians came over.
Of course, for most of the history of the United States this nation was predominantly mastered by white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants (pejoratively called WASPs.) And in fact, the majority of the population fit into this mould, with the exception, perhaps, of predominantly Catholic Maryland and predominantly Mormon Utah. We might also add Massachusetts as being heavily Catholic in the 20th century. So when these people shout, “make America great again,” they actually mean make America white Protestant again.
This is, indeed, very sad and quite indefensible, yet this is precisely what we are facing today. This is the monster that’s finally crawled back out from under the bed. The old bones of white supremacy and nationalism have been fleshed again by the man who currently occupies the Oval Office. God have mercy and help us! Two years has already been too long, and we have to somehow survive the next two when, hopefully, voters will overwhelmingly make a better choice for President.
Part of my own hope and dream now is to do something to alleviate this mens de captivus, opening the prison door, so to speak, gently leading individuals back out into the verdant fields of promising life in the wide world we inhabit. Yes, it can, and often is, frightening; then again, true freedom (authentic liberty) is scary if for no other reason than the fact that the immediate future always stands open to innumerable possibilities with very few guarantees. Is it worth it, though? Yes! Most assuredly!
noblethemes 