Donald Trump’s war against America just got even uglier
Donald Trump continued his war against most American citizens with his ridiculous Fourth of July celebration. In his speech at Mount Rushmore, Trump sounded like a classic racist. He told the crowd, “They want to silence us, but we will not be silenced.” No, that refers to the people who are standing up for themselves — black and brown people who have been silenced for far too long. He further claimed that “children are taught in school to hate their own country.” The nerve of this fake-ass “president.” No, hate is taught in the homes of every racist in America, including Trump’s. If it were not, we would not have a whole new crop of racists.
Contrary to Trump’s lies and hate rhetoric, the racist past of America is not a “culture,” nor can it be considered any type of “value.” There is absolutely no value in hating others because of the color of their skin. We would not have blood plasma if not for a black man, Dr. Charles Drew. Gerald Lawson created the first home video console, from which your Xboxes and Playstations derive. Garrett Morgan invented the three-position traffic signal, and Valerie Thomas was a physicist with NASA who invented the illusion transmitter, an early form of 3-D technology. The list is endless.
Without these black innovators — who invented even as they were discriminated against — the world might look very differently. These contributions cannot be denied, and other people of color must be allowed to use their God-given talents to help better the world. Trump and his supporters, however, fail to see any value in people of color. In a way, though, it is good that Trump continues down this road. He is riling up his racist supporters to get them to the polls in November. Given his disastrous approval rating, good luck.
He lies to rile up his ignorant supporters, who hang on his every word, revealing just how far their ignorance goes. CNN reported that Trump’s rally (they can call it a “celebration” if they want) included his claims that increased cases of coronavirus are due to increased testing, the death rate is down (it is not), and that younger people “get better much easier and faster,” which means absolutely nothing to the most vulnerable.
Many at Trump’s rally wore no masks and social distancing was discouraged, with attendees crowding onto bleacher seats and into folding chairs secured together with zip ties to adhere to the fire code. Even as Trump touted his lies about coronavirus, CNN reported that his son’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, tested positive. The virus is getting closer to Trump. Perhaps if he catches it, he will stop lying about it.
Trump wants to drag us into the past. Make no mistake: His speech is clear that he wants a return to “American values” as he sees them — slavery and Jim Crow. Instead of twisting words that belong to the truly oppressed to fire up his ignorant supporters, Trump might want to stop packing them in together so that there will be enough of the 30% left alive to vote for him come November.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years