You Don’t Get America If:

You think we are a melting pot when we are a tossed salad.

You think this country belongs to Anglos.

You oppose protests that disagree with your beliefs. 

You believe this country was founded by God and is Christian.

You think protesting brutality by kneeling during the National Anthem is wrong.

You think blaming the victims of racism absolves you of responsibility.

You think diversity is a disability, not an asset.

You can pat yourself on the back for not being a racist but refuse to become anti-racism.

You can pat yourself on the back for not discriminating against women but refuse to support women’s’ equality movement.

You can pat yourself on the back for not discriminating against other sexual orientations but refuse to support LGBTQ rights.

You think you are free of responsibility because you do not commit sexual assault or physical abuse but refuse to demand that perpetrators of those crimes be held accountable.

You think blaming those who are less successful than you because you think they are inhibiting your success is logical.

You think to persecute, demean, fire, slander those who disagree with you is OK.

You think no man is above the law but support lawless men

.

You support the notion of democracy but oppose strategies that would increase the number of voters.

You refuse to wear a mask and argue your right is more important than the health or life of others.

You think public service is demeaning and pursuit of wealth is blessed.

You think a non-regulated private sector is best for all.

You think a non-regulated private sector can perform better than a public service.

You believe that those who are hired to serve and protect have no responsibility to serve and protect everyone, including suspects.

You think a free press is a menace to democracy.

You think freedom to assemble, freedom to protest, and freedom of speech should not apply to everyone.

You think modeling nobility and integrity and the value of human rights for all is not our responsibility.

You do not support working toward a more perfect union but prefer to work backward to some glorified past.

You do not support the findings of science and math but trust those who decide by their guts and beliefs.

You can support the end of immigration to the US based on color and religious belief and claim to support freedom.

You do not deeply believe that all humans are created equal and merit inherent human rights.

If you believe all that, you do not get what it means to be an American citizen.

Observations from a Beige Hypocrite

The murder of George Floyd, a Black man, killed by an Anglo Police officer, has surfaced tons of strong feelings across our land.  We were emotionally raw to begin with.  Trump has always been divisive.  Trump totally blew the federal response to Covid-19.  The economy has tanked.  So, protestors and rioters are no great big surprise when bigotry rules and equality and equity are harder topics than bleach and ultraviolet light.  My thoughts and feelings meander.

I have said before and will say again that I am clearly brilliant.  My decision to be born to middle-class white parents was a stunning achievement.  My decision to learn English as my native language was equally earth-shaking.  I chose to be born in the United States, an incredibly wealthy nation.  And, I chose parents who were Christian rather than Muslim or atheist or some other weirdo belief system.  I deserve a ton of credit for at least those four decisions.  Had I been born some other race or ethnicity I would not have prospered as I have.  If I spoke Spanish and not English I would not have prospered as I have.  Had I been born in the 3^rd world I would likely be dead by now.  And if I had been born to Muslim parents I would likely never have been able to even visit the US, much less live here.  Yep, I’m brilliant.  I remain amazed, however, that many of my peers, especially those from high school days, do not recognize their own brilliance having made the same decisions I made.  Perhaps they should spend a week or so as though they were born Black atheists from Somalia. 

White privilege is pervasive, and for many, invisible and deniable.  Like the bully who does not see himself or herself as a bully, or the bigot who cannot see his or her own prejudice and believes that beliefs are based on data and observation rather than outcomes based on other factors.  Or those who simply believe that some human beings are better than other human beings.  Or that for some reason this expanse in North America we call the USA was given by God to Anglo Christians just like the Garden of Eden was given to Adam and Eve.  (I find this particularly amusing since there are no Anglos or White people in the Bible.  Well, maybe Pontius Pilate, but he is hardly a hero.)  I have never felt fear walking into a restaurant or a retail outlet.  I have never suspected that a police car in my rearview mirror would stop me just because of my skin color.  I do not have a history of being enslaved.  I do not have a history of separate schools and separate seating and separate bathrooms and separate water fountains.  Everything around me reinforces the fact that my life matters and I can go and do as I please.  So when I say Black Lives Matter there is an unspoken “too” at the end of that phrase that many White people just do not understand.  I am the right color.  I am beige.

I am also a hypocrite.  I yearn for a society of tolerance.  I yearn for a society that is based on equity and equality, where incomes do not vary by race, where education does not vary by race, where health care and life expectancies do not vary by race, where employment opportunities do not vary by race.  I yearn for an open society not just respectful of diversity but celebratory.  I yearn for a culture that values human beings regardless of race, ethnicity, country of origin, religious belief, gender, sexual orientation, and on and on.

Sadly I must admit that I am a hypocrite.  I am totally intolerant of intolerant people and I totally discriminate against bigots.  I am a beige hypocrite. 

Kids Do Lie

I was a campus-level administrator in public schools for 5 years.  I saw a lot and learned a lot.  One of the most painful experiences I had in this role was when parents discovered their children would lie to them.  Many parents would enter my office to discuss the discipline of their son or daughter for some offense and the conversation would begin with the parent saying, “I know my child better than you.  And he/she would not lie to me.  There is some mistake here.”  Following such a statement I would typically lay out the evidence which often included a video of what the student had actually done.  Mouths would drop.  Tears would fall.  When finally confronted with the gosh-awful truth that a child would lie to them to escape punishment and avoid disappointing them the parents invariably broke down.  It was always a gut-wrenching moment and I suspect that most precious parent-child relationships changed forever.  The love did not end.  The unquestioning support did.

I keep waiting for the same experience to happen for those who support Trump.  The evidence is so clear.  He lies.  He cheats.  He creates false realities.  He has been accused of sexual assault.  He attempted to use taxpayer money to bribe a foreign country into doing his personal political investigation.  He has used his position as President to make himself more money.  There are 10 documented times he attempted to end the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in our 2016 election and he was not indicted for obstruction of justice because the law requires the House to impeach and the Senate to try a sitting president rather than going the standard legal procedure.  The Senate refused to conduct a hearing with testimony, evidence, and witnesses.  He continues to work in behalf of Russia attempting to get them re-instated in the G-7.  And on and on. 

And now, this president has used special ops troops to tear gas American citizens who were engaged in a lawful demonstration so that a path could be cleared for him to walk to a nearby church for a photo op.  He stood before a building he has never entered and held up a book he has never read.  If this does not scare you to death I do not know what will.  You might recall that when Bashar al-Assad,  the self-declared Syrian President gassed his own people who were protesting that he would not step down after losing the election, gassed his own people.  The result of Bashar’s behavior triggered a military response from the US and our European allies.  It is serious misbehavior to gas your own people.

How in the world does Trump continue to enjoy support from good-hearted American citizens with all the information and all the evidence out there in the land of truth, justice and the American way?  I think I know one reason.

There is an array of media outlets who benefit from the Trump Presidency.  Those outlets have mastered the ability to spin every negative fact about Trump into something other than the truth.  Sometimes they use the old, “Everybody does it” argument.  Sometimes they use the old, “It is not my fault, it is somebody else’s fault” argument.  Sometimes they use the old red herring argument, “You should see what the other guy is doing” argument.  Sometimes they use the old distraction argument, “Don’t look here, look over there.”  And sometimes they just out and out deny and lie.  Trump reminds me of that obnoxious kid in junior high who found great joy in approaching someone from behind on the left side while tapping on their right shoulder.  For Trump supporters who desperately do not want to believe the President they love is a liar and a criminal these media outlets provide them with some sort of rationale to continue to support him. 

Those supporters have been taught to believe that Democrats are evil people, that socialism will be the end of the USA, that even if Trump lies it is no big deal, that Trump has accomplished major goals as President, that Trump stands up for the worker in the US, that Trump stands up to foreign nations and leaders, that Trump has done nothing wrong regarding federal leadership in the pandemic, that Trump naming Cabinet-level officials as “acting” to avoid any Senate hearings on the qualifications of those appointees is OK, that Trump has improved our foreign relations with our allies and our enemies and has redefined our enemies as our allies and vice-versa, that Trump’s avoidance of climate change talk is a good thing, that Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Peace Accord was a good thing, that tariffs are a good thing, that any limitation on gun ownership and registration is a bad thing, that Democrats will take guns away from law-abiding citizens, that abortions are nothing more than killing babies, and that Trump’s guts trump science.  Most disturbing of all to me is the supporters' belief that somehow God has anointed Trump to be President.

These supporters have support for their undying support and it comes from Fox News, Limbaugh, Murdoch, Hannity, O’Rielly, Beck, the Blaze, Brietbart, the Daily Wire, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and on and on.  If a supporter wants to be in denial regarding the truth of Donald Trump, all he or she has to do is limit the intake of political news to any of these sources.  These sources will play the spin game on every negative revelation regarding Trump and give those supporters one more opportunity to avoid learning their kid does lie.  These sources have even convinced Trump supporters that the legitimate, honest news sources are biased against Trump and lie too.

Trump was absolutely furious when it appeared that Twitter might fact-check him.  Wonder why?  Very simple, if the truth were universally known Trump would have no support except from the truly far-right extremes.

Trump was impeached and should have been removed from office.  He now presides over a nation with race riots reminiscent of the 1960s, a depression reminiscent of 1929, and the nation with the most infections and deaths in the world from the pandemic, reminiscent of the 1918 H1N1 pandemic.  Trump swore to protect and defend the US Constitution and has attacked that document ever since he entered office.  He attacks the right of the people to assemble and protest, he attacks the free press, he thinks religious freedom is the freedom to discriminate, he thinks there are good people who are white supremacists, and he thinks the second amendment exists without limits.

It will be a painful day for Trump supporters when they actually have the courage to look at the truth.  I have sat with adults when that revelation occurs and it is not pretty.  I suspect the anger arising from his current followers when they discover they have been duped will be something to behold.  Signs that such a revelation may be coming include military men who express concerns regarding Trump’s behavior, former Secretary of State Colin Powell saying Trump has drifted away from the Constitution, Fox News actually broadcasting some truth earning more wrath from Trump, former Cabinet members speaking out about Trump’s incompetence, etc., etc. 

Yes, kids will lie and it hurts parents to learn that.  The longer we deny that truth the more it hurts.  Trump lies.  His reality is not reality.  His ambitions are not in the best interest of the United States.  I hope Trump supporters learn those lessons soon.  The truth hurts, but it will set them free.