Trump’s lies matter
30th November 2015 · 0 Comments
By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor
Mr. Mouth Almighty, Tongue Everlasting is at it again.
Anyone who knows anything about GOP presidential hopeful and tycoon Donald Trump should not be surprised by the recent attack on a Black Lives Matter activist at one of his rallies in Alabama or the candidate’s defense of the six Trump workers who kicked and beat the man for daring to interrupt Trump during a campaign speech.
So much for freedom of expression. It was more like freedom of speech, just watch what you say and who you say it around.
Trump is sending a dangerous message to those who are egging him on — that it’s perfectly OK to physically attack those who disagree with you, whether at a political gathering or on the street.
There is a certain amount of fascination with Donald Trump because he’s like that ornery uncle who provides free entertainment at the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table. He’s the quintessential loose cannon and you never know what he’s going to say from one moment to the next.
But while it may be fun to listen to Trump poke fun at others and verbally attack his political opponents, it would be less fun to wonder when his words, petulance and actions might bring about race riots, another world war or a full-blown nuclear attack.
He’s like a three-year-old with little control over what he says and does and hasn’t yet learned that words and actions have consequences.
White America obviously adores him for having the gumption to say whatever he wants and put people of color, women and anyone who dares to challenge him in his or her place.
No one has really questioned his lack of knowledge about U.S. or world history or even his inability to play nice with others.
It’s obvious that his comments about the Black Lives Matter incident in Alabama are resonating with whites who have made it clear that they have no patience for Black activists who criticize cops for shooting unarmed Blacks. Here in New Orleans last week, a WWL radio caller asked where the Black Lives Matter protesters were after 17 people were shot at Bunny Friend Playground in the Ninth Ward. In the midst of this tragic shooting, this caller was hell-bent on taking a shot at victims of gun violence, as if Black people say nothing about Black-on-Black violence.
Trump has earned cult-hero status because of his refusal to respect anyone who is not a wealthy white male.
Trump is a champion to angry whites still reeling from the election and re-election of President Barack Obama and those who have swallowed the lies about Blacks and Latinos bringing about the decline of America.
In reality, it is the racial hatred and blatant discrimination that is crippling America, making it impossible for the nation to compete academically with other industrialized nations and losing its economic prowess in the global village.
In an effort to place a glass ceiling on the lives of Black and Brown people, the U.S. has backpedaled on its commitment to providing quality public education and in the process has lost ground in the academic fields of science and mathematics to a myriad of other developed nations.
At the same time, the U.S. has witnessed many of the nation’s top corporations “outsourcing oppression” by moving their operations overseas to underdeveloped nations that allow American corporations to get away with paying slave wages to foreign workers. While the tactic has allowed these corporations to maximize profits, it has also undercut the federal tax base and contributed to poverty and unemployment in the United States.
A surplus benefit to these corporations is the lack of environmental regulations and safeguards in many of these underdeveloped countries.
Meanwhile, President Obama and the Democratic Party receive the lion’s share of the blame for the nation’s economic woes and little to no credit for effective measures that have actually reduced unemployment in the U.S. over the past seven years.
Common sense and reliable data go out the window when you’re dealing with hordes of Tea Party followers and others who believe anything that comes out of the mouths of people like Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and yes, Donald Trump.
As bad as things are now, they can and will get worse for Black and Brown people in America if Donald Trump actually wins the GOP presidential nomination.
His anti-immigration comments are aimed directly at immigrants of color and he has made it clear that there is no place for Black and Brown people in Trump’s world.
If his comments about his lone female competition for the GOP presidential nomination and female journalists are any indication, women will also find the going tough under a Donald Trump administration.
While he has captured the imagination of working-class and blue-collar whites, particularly in the Deep South, it is clear that he is seeking to restore the good old days when the only people who had a say in the running and governance of America were white males who have amassed considerable wealth.
People of color and the poor continue to suffer at the hands of those who have no qualms about doing whatever is necessary to secure the blessings of liberty for wealthy white males while ensuring that everyone else is permanently placed at the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.
The U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Department of Justice have proven to be of very little help to communities of color and the poor of every hue, as the 1 percent continues on its quest to restore the supreme power wealthy landowners once enjoyed during the early days of Colonial America.
Voter I.D. laws, Supreme Court decisions that weaken the Voting Rights Act, anti-immigration laws and efforts to privatize everything from education, recreation, penal institutions and health care are but a few of the tactics being used to keep 99 percent of us in our place.
The only questions that remains to be asked is what are we going to do about it?
All power to the people.
This article originally published in the November 30, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
