{great, again}

I keep seeing the ignorant Make America White Again billboard and reading about how shocked and upset people are by it. But, what I don’t understand, is how people don’t get equally upset about Trump’s campaign. Make America Great Again, is a veiled way of saying exactly what this billboard says outright. It is a racist slogan. Any prior time in American history, any halcyon days of greatness, that this slogan may be referring to, would have been days of institutionalized racism, or even worse, of slavery. Trump has disdain for everyone who is not Trump. Period. It is silly that we are even discussing this person as a potential leader, but we are and that is indicative of a really dangerous trend in American culture. Blue collar white folks who want to feel better about themselves by creating some illusory race hierarchy and scapegoating other groups should ask themselves if they can really believe that Trump cares about them. No way, guys. You are just a means to fulfilling this bigoted narcissist’s need for adulation.

We need to get focused and re-direct this cultural narrative because it is alarming and does not position this country on the right side of history or of anything else. Bigotry is toxic and doesn’t serve ANYONE. We really need to talk about this and we really need to stand up against racism and bigotry in any and all forms when and where we can.

After my recent trip to Atlanta, I am reminded of how much has NOT changed and how much hate is right below the surface of things. Walking down the street at night, where many other people were also walking, a white man in a pick-up truck pulled up to me and yelled, “girl, you better get off the street, there are black folks everywhere.” As is typically the case, all the great responses came to me later and dumbfounded I simply replied: “are you serious?” He responded with some of the foulest most hate-filled words ever spoken to me. I felt as if someone had slapped me, but no one on the street even looked back. “Is this so common that no one even takes note?” I wondered.

Sitting in the back pew at the Ebenezer Baptist Church days later, I was overcome with emotion. I hid behind my sunglasses as tears rolled involuntarily down my face. We have not come very far, but we think we have. This false sense of cultural achievement is dangerous. It makes us think that we can stop talking about civil rights and feminism when really, we are mere toddlers in terms of our development of an equitable society. A cursory glance and any day's headlines will tell you we are not an equitable society and in America, some people matter and others do not, contrary to what most American's think.

Let’s not be lulled. Let’s talk about these things fearlessly and really try to change attitudes and beliefs and corresponding behaviors in our own families and neighborhoods. America is not making progress, so Americans are going to have to do it for ourselves.