And Now About Racism....

What You First Must Know About Racism

Now I’m going to talk about racism.[1] This certainly won’t be the only time, but for now, I can start with an important point, what may be the most important point. Ready? Here it is:

If you are vulnerable to racism, you worry less about the racist. You worry about all the others that ignore him.

When you find you have to worry about racism, you soon realize your biggest threat is not the country turning against you. It’s that one racist in the right place that goes unnoticed. That one teacher that gives you a lower grade than you deserve, just enough to change what college you go to. That person in HR that throws away your resume because they don’t like your last name. That landlord that won’t let you move to a better neighborhood. That one person in authority that decides your kind is always guilty of something. The one juror that decides your fate before the trial has begins. The politician that finds he can get a few more votes vilifying you.

In every one of those cases, you know that if that one person was exposed and not tolerated, you would be safe. Unfortunately, you know that more likely, as long as they are careful, no one will stop them. When a racist stands up and confronts you, you can deal with him just like anyone who confronts you. But that rarely happens (at least these days). Instead, he operates under the shadow of rationalizations and innuendos. And because of this, most of the time you find yourself having to prove the “intent” of another person, which is rarely possible.

The only one who can truly stop a racist is those closest to him.

So there it is. You learn that your fate is not in the hands of the racist but everyone that lets him operate unchecked

The important point here is that this is not about hate, decency, or even good and evil. Someone can be the kindest and non-racist person in the world, but if you know they will not stand up to a racist friend, then you are not safe with that person. You may like them. You may respect them, but you cannot trust them.

How could you trust someone knowing that if having to choose between you and the racist that hates you, they would choose the racist?

Now I realize that asking you to stand up to a coworker, friend, relative, or worse yet boss can be a lot to ask. I have not always lived to that standard and would not ask you to, But it does not take much. Just once in a while. If we all did at least that, racism could not grow. It just takes one person to stand up when it matters.

And it’s not too much to ask that you stand against racism when you vote.

We can’t just ask our leaders to not be racist, they have to be ready to take action against it. I know you think racism is wrong, so why would you not ask your candidate to stand up to a racist. That’s just being a leader.

Fortunately, we live in a time where such leaders are not hard to find. Here’s what one looks like.

Here's again what it looks like.

And let us remember the George W. Bush lead us away from bigotry and racism in the midst of 9/11.

Here's what it doesn't look like.

Now I know he later renounced David Duke and made the lame excuse that "he didn't hear the question". But what about this?

And this?

Even as President, his first response it to talk about himself and conflate racism with other issues.

Now, I know many of you will say he has renounced this as well, but President Trump has never renounced racism when he was first asked. He always took at least three times before he would make even the most anodyne statement. Compare this to the force and voice he so willing to show on other issues.

And I'm not even going into President Trump's own racist remarks and the role he has played (yet). A president is supposed to lead us away from racism not towards it. To do, otherwise, is cowardice pure and simple. President Trump is either too much a coward to tell what he really thinks, or he is too much a coward to tell a bigot he is wrong. Either way, he is a coward, and why would we want a coward for a president.