We shall overcome ... some day

Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity, which is outraged, in the name of liberty, which is fettered, in the name of the Constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery -- the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate - I will not excuse."

That was Frederick Douglass on the "hypocrisy of American slavery."  Yes, the same Douglass whose "by the rivers of Babylon" prompted me to blog a post a few months ago, and has been the featured post for a while now.

As I re-read that, the following line rattles me even more now in the context of trump's explicit racism and his support even among elected Republicans, leave alone his base!

America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. 

If I were an African-American who traces his roots to slaves, it would have been a challenge for me not to have been violent when I was young.  The injustice is simply beyond my comprehension. Beyond my understanding.  And then to read that the president refers to the continent, from where the slaves were brought, as "shithole"?

With his latest display, Mr. Trump has pulled deeply from the white-racist imagination. “Shithole” refers either to a toilet or the anus. Then again, in Mr. Trump’s mouth, it could mean both. So, let’s get this right. Places like Haiti, El Salvador and African countries are indicative of places where feces are deposited or places from which feces are expelled. Either way, Haitians, Salvadorans and Africans function, in Mr. Trump’s white racist imaginary, as “dirt,” “crap,” that which “stinks,” is “foul” and “nasty,” that which causes us typically to recoil.

That paragraph is not any unhinged rant.  It is from a compelling commentary in the NY Times by George Yancy, who is a professor of philosophy, and who has been a frequent contributor to the philosophy forum at the paper.

How did we get to this moment in 2018?

There were enough Americans who were willing to accept Trump’s racism to elect him. There are enough people in Washington willing to accept Trump’s racism to defend him. Not only is Trump racist, the entire architecture of his support is suffused with that racism. Racism is a fundamental component of the Trump presidency.

63 million Americans, many of whom are Jesus-loving Christians, supported the racist. Including two white (past) commenters here!