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| Congressman Elijah Cummings (congress.gov) |
The fact happens to be that if one is already believed to be a racist than any insult hurled at person of color will be seen as
racist. But is that fair? Is it fair
that the President is called racist because he used insulting language about an opponent of color - even though the insult is not in and of itself racist?
I believe that if one is to be totally honest they would have to admit that saying
someone has a low IQ is insulting regardless of
what color they are - but it is not racist. Because this is how the dictionary defines
racism:
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior
If one applies this definition to what the President has
been saying, he clearly never said anything that would even remotely imply that
the white race is superior to the black race.
And yet, he has been called a racist many times by his political
opponents (Democrats and ‘Never Trumper’ Republicans) along with a media that
hardly hides their agreement and antipathy toward the man (although they pretend to be objective). It is
therefore hard for most people to see the President as anything but a racist.
That is what is known as the ‘Big Lie’. The kind of
propaganda that was successfully used by Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels
against the Jews of Europe in the 1930s – painting us as vermin and an evil cabal
out to dominate the world. If you repeat the ‘Big Lie’ often enough, people
start believing it.
How can the President’s opponents get away with that accusation?
That’s because the President has made it easy for them. For example his recent tweet
about the ‘Squad’ – a group of 4 leftist congresswomen that are constantly and
only described in the media by the color of their skin (people of color) when
referring to Trump’s tweet, rather than by their politics
After being constantly attacked by them, the President hit
back via his favorite medium, Twitter. He told them to go back to their countries
of origin; fix the problems there; and then come back and show us how they did
it.
His opponents and the media immediately focused on the part
of that tweet that said they should go back where they came from – an epithet often
used by racists against people of color. The outrage expressed by his opponents -
characterizing that tweet as racist was so strong that only fellow ‘closet’ racists
or fools could say it wasn’t. Thus perpetuating the ‘Big Lie’.
The latest Presidential tweet has more than reinforced that
lie. After being repeatedly and viciously attacked by Congressman Elijah Cummings
numerous times since he took office, the President lashed out at him. Again by a
tweet. Saying that his district was rat infested and that no one would want to live there he blamed Cummings for that and said:
If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership.
That was of course immediately labeled racist too by his
opponents and the media (still feigning objectivity).
What is going on here should be obvious to anyone. Regardless
of how one feels about the President or his politics, any critical comments
by the President about a ‘person of colorc is going to be automatically characterized
as racist.
For his opponents, the racism is so obvious that they are
shocked by those of us that don’t see what they see in the words of those comments. But again - there is nothing that can even remotely be seen in them as saying that
white people are superior to ‘people of color’.
What are the real reasons for those Presidential tweets?
Trump is not one to let people insult him and look the other way. He hits back –
and hits back hard. His critics on the left are many. And they have said some
pretty nasty things about him, his family, and the people in his administration.
Some of them are true, but some are based on their political
biases. In the case of Cummings, his recent tirade against the acting DHS chief
about conditions at the migrant retention centers (which at most were exaggerated
if true at all - even according to the mainstream media) precipitated the President’ s attack. And then to double down on it.
I know it’s easy for me to say, but if I were in his shoes,
I’d just let people talk, ignore it all and let my actions speak for
themselves. That would be the Presidential way to do it.The President would do well to just keep his big mouth shut. As I have
said, I support many of his policies both foreign and domestic. But Trump is who
he is. There is no changing his behavior.
I take no pleasure in defending a man I have the many of the same problems with him that many of his opponents have. Which is why I didn’t vote for him in the first
place. I abhor the way he conducts himself in office. I abhor his tweets. I
continue to see him as an embarrassment and often cringe at what he says. I
shudder at the thought of being seen as a supporter of such a man. Or worse –
considered a racist myself!
However, by writing a post like this, I realize that I will increasingly
be seen that way despite my denials. So I once again want to clearly say that I am NOT a supporter!. Nor am I a racist! I am a
supporter only of the truth as I understand it. And the only race I support is
the human race.
