Minneapolis, Minnesota:
We have to start with the current unrest occurring in the country. It began, this time, with the murder of Mr. George Floyd by four police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020 (I’m not posting the video, it’s easily found on the internet). If you’re not aware of the specifics of Mr Floyd’s arrest and death in police custody, you must be living under a rock. All that needs to be said is that Mr Floyd was on the ground with a Minneapolis cop kneeling on his neck for 7 or more minutes. Mr Floyd died as a result of this.
The now ex-officer, Derek Chauvin, was finally arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. If convicted on the murder charge, Chauvin faces a maximum penalty of 25 years. If convicted of only manslaughter, Chauvin faces a maximum penalty of 10 years and/or a $20,000 fine.
As a result of the killing of another African American by police in this country, a protest began in Minneapolis and has spread across the country over succeeding days. Protests became violent from the beginning, with blame for starting the violence has been laid at the door of “far-left extremist groups” by AG William Barr and Antifa by Donald Trump, according to Politico. This is now the mantra that the Trump Administration will follow. However, neither offered any evidence to support their claims.
Before I go on, let me digress for a moment. The protests by the African Americans, in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities, are NOT out to loot, rob and attack authorities. They are there to protest the systemic racism against African Americans of the United States. The Civil War and the Civil Rights movement fixed some things, but it is sad to say that White America maintained their racist attitudes (see my article “American Racism Still Going Strong“). The African American protestors accept White Americans joining their protests as allies, as long as they are not there to start looting and rioting. All that does is bring on violent reactions by the police.
Donald Trump Tweets:
But, back to our story. So, what has been the reaction of the country’s leader of White American Racists, Donald Trump? Well, he falls back on his time tested tactic, go on Twitter and stir up the violence. What he should be doing is to try to calm the nation.
Instead, on Thursday night, May 29th, CBS News reported that Trump tweeted, “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” he tweeted. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” This earned Trump a warning page on his post by Twitter for glorifying violence.
Donald Trump was called out for this tweet and tried to walk it back on Friday morning. According to AP News, Trump stated, his comments had been misconstrued. “Frankly it means when there’s looting, people get shot and they die,” he said. Uh huh, we believe know you better than that Donald.
Donald Trump has a long history of racism (and sexism as well). Here are several instances of his racism from Vox.com; in 1973 Trump was sued for racial discrimination by the Nixon Administration; in 1989 Trump ran a full page ad calling for New York state to bring back the death penalty as a result of the Central Park Five case of five minority teenagers alleged rape of a woman in Central Park (the teens were exonerated years later, after spending years in prison). The examples go on and on. From racist comments against Muslims, to his comments against Mexicans during his 2016 campaign for the presidency and beyond. there is no low that Donald Trump won’t stoop down to.
White American Racists:
However, Donald Trump likes his white supremacists. How could he not when his most famous, or infamous, tweet said that there were nice people on both sides after the white nationalist rally held in Charlotte in 2017. Yes, he has apologized for his remark and “the president twice specifically condemned white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and he has repeated that condemnation since,” reports the fact checking site factcheck.org. But, then he makes more racist statements targeting minorities. White nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, QAnon, etc., get passed by.
MAGA Members:
There’s also racists among his vaunted MAGA’s. Sure, not every supporter of Donald Trump, but there are racists, even ones who deny being racist. In an article, “We’re All Tired of Being Called Racists“, on The Atlantic website, there are a couple of clear interviews that support my belief.
Journalist Elaina Plott wrote, in the August 2019 story, of the people she interviewed at a Donald Trump event. One woman, Roseanna, 50, defended Trump and spoke of the 15 grandchildren she has (several multi-racial) and then made a statement in reference to Ilhan Omar, “Look, but she is gonna get—you know, I don’t want her stinkin’ Muslim crap in my country.” You decide if that’s racist. Roseanna also wondered if Omar came to the United States illegally (which the writer points out there is no evidence this is true).
Ms Plott also spoke with 76 year old Robert Morris, who was outside the arena. Mr Morris spoke firmly about Trump supporters not being racist. Then at the end, Ms Plott wrote that Mr Morris said,”Send her back?” No, he said, that wouldn’t happen again, because “we’re positive.” This is reference to Omar Ilhan. After a chuckle Morris continued, “But I’d buy her a ticket so she can go on a cruise back.” Mr Morris also believes Omar is a person who is ungrateful. Would he provide cruise money to send a white person back to where they came from? I personally think not. I even asked my wife if she believed these statements were racist, to which she replied, “Yes.”
This is the man leading our nation, vying for a second term. As bad as he is now, how will he be if he is reelected? There is the feeling among some that, should he lose to Joe Biden, he will refuse to leave and cite voting fraud to hold on to office. We can only wait and see.
Until next time
American Dystopia 