By Vernon A. Williams
Let’s put all the race cards on the table. The deck is stacked against any meaningful, sustainable level of diversity and inclusion in this nation. There is no explanation for the painfully slow pace of progress except for the lack of effort.
Conversely, there is a conscientious effort to reverse social advancement and to thwart efforts to break new ground when it comes to matters of freedom, fair play, justice and humanity in these United States. They want to turn back the clock.
Americans made priorities clear in November 2016, electing the Republican nominee whose position out of the gate dripped with the words of interposition and nullification – as says Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The current administration ran on a platform of oppression and repression. The intent from the start was to do whatever it took to revive the old way in which things were done in this nation – before integration, before affirmative action, before concerted efforts of all kinds to achieve racial harmony.
Put even simpler, the racism espoused by the GOP candidate bore resounding appeal to a considerable segment of the voting public and failed to be a deterrent for those who may not share the extreme positions of 45, but who also don’t feel motivated to distinguish themselves and their politics from his intensely divisive rhetoric.
At the end of the day, there were those who actively supported and embraced the extent to which 45 expressed his racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. Then there were those who were complicit in that they refused to speak out against, or distance themselves.
Agent Orange is aware that he can get away with virtually ANYTHING as long as he maintains his promise to curtail brown people coming to America and deport as many of those already here as possible. That is the crux of his appeal both to his 35-40 percent base and whites who otherwise disagree with almost all he says or does.
We have reached the point in time in which NOTHING is important to a certain block of citizens as long as the nation continues to agonize over efforts of immigration. How else can you possibly explain the things the United States has allowed this president to get away with, without even a slap on the wrist?
Recently, the Atlantic chronicled 50 of the most outrageous scandals, actions or statements of this worst-ever administration. A few of them were as follows:
- Children taken from parents at the border and imprisoned
- Referring to some neo-Nazis and white Nationalists as fine people
- Refusal to release his tax returns as predecessors have done for the previous 40 years
- Becoming best of friends with the leader of Russia, the mortal enemy of the U.S.
- Declaring war on Black athletes
- Sexual encounters with a stripper and others after having a newborn son
- Mocking Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and her allegations of sexual assault
- Publicly humiliating staff that he hired as part of his administration
- Casual threats to press his “nuclear button”
- Refusing to honor soldiers on a national holiday because it rained
- Helping the Saudi Arabian government cover up the murder of a news reporter
- Ongoing warfare with the American press dubbed, “enemy of the people”
- Calls probe by the special prosecutor a witch hunt
- Puts down U.S. intelligence agency in favor of the word of Vladimir Putin
- Lying so frequently no one can keep count
- Uninvited at dignitaries’ funerals, depriving the nation of a Consoler-In-Chief
- Name calling feuds with eventually fired James Comey and Jeff Sessions
- Winking at gross misspending and inappropriate use of government funds among his hand-picked cabinet
This is a mere sampling of the kinds of flagrant blunders and misdeeds 45 without rebuke has been allowed to get away with. In addition, many ask why he didn’t speak out against mistreatment of Black Americans during his first two years. Not only was he silent in the face of such mistreatment but developed even more discriminatory policies that include voter repression.
It is hard to believe that there was a time when the media wanted to report it as a scandal when President Obama used a ‘fist bump’ greeting – or when the former president had the audacity to wear a tan suit. By comparison, these feigned infractions would be like comparing a jay-walker to a mass murderer.
The sad truth is nothing that the incumbent does offends the sensibilities of too many Americans unless it has to do with benefits for people of color. And that’s the farthest thing from the mind of this so-called leader of the free world.
The conclusion is clear – that 40 percent “base” that you hear so much about will support 45 until the end of the world as long as he continues being the poster boy for Making America White Again.
CIRCLE CITY CONNECTION by Vernon A. Williams is a series of essays on myriad topics that include social issues, human interest, entertainment and profiles of difference-makers who are forging change in a constantly evolving society. Williams is a 40-year veteran journalist based in Indianapolis, IN – commonly referred to as The Circle City. Send comments or questions to: [email protected].
