Deniers of racism love to assert that racism is a thing of the past, that the U.S. is a post-racial society (we have a black POTUS, so that means…absofuckinglutely nothing). If one follows the news, it’s clear that such a belief is utter balderdash and is directly contradicted by reality (the shared one we all live in. Not the faux reality created by outlets like FOX “News” or the Blaze). Here are five recent examples of racism in the U.S.:
Deniers of racism love to assert that racism is a thing of the past, that the U.S. is a post-racial society (we have a black POTUS, so that means…absofuckinglutely nothing). If one follows the news, it’s clear that such a belief is utter balderdash and is directly contradicted by reality (the shared one we all live in. Not the faux reality created by outlets like FOX “News” or the Blaze). Here are five recent examples of racism in the U.S.:
*NOTE: This post was accidentally submitted (as ‘Dear GOP: You lied’) before it was ready. My best guess is that I was drowsy and hit ‘publish’, rather than ‘save draft’. The version of this post that was submitted was far from complete. Upon discovering this, I deleted the post. I apologize and I will be more careful in the future.
Jeopardy answer:
Once upon a time, there was a man-an “exceptional” man born into an “exceptional ” Western country. Over the course of his life, this man was a businessman, a television entertainer, an author, and an investor. His various occupations enabled the man to accrue great wealth, and to many, he was viewed as a celebrity. But wealth and prestige was not enough for this man. He sought more-he sought to be the leader of this Western country. Fueled by ignorance, backed by more wealth than any person truly needs, and armed with a Grand Canyon-sized ego, this mendacious media mogul recently announced his candidacy for presidency of the United States.
Jeopardy question:
Donald Trump is still being raked over the coals for his recent racist comments (interestingly enough, the media has been very slow-like a tortoise-to refer to those comments as racist). Had the man’s ego been the size of most humans, perhaps he would have chosen not to make a name for himself as “the candidate with racist opinions of Mexicans“. After all, the United States has a sizable population of Mexican immigrants-both documented and undocumented (the latter being the preferred term over “illegal“)-so a savvy politician would have kept their racist opinions to themselves (and a decent politician would not have held such racist opinions to begin with). But the Donald? This man is not known for his political savvy (nor is he known for being a decent man). Of course, does he need to be savvy when he was merely telling the truth?
There I stood in sheer disbelief.
I was floored.
I almost wanted him to repeat what he said.
But no, I’d heard his words.
“You should run for mayor. I’d vote for you.” he said.
Early last year, at one of my previous bartending jobs, I had the pleasure of engaging in an extended conversation with a guest (call him J). His wife was out of town, and thus he was dining alone and it was a slow night so I was able to chat with him for some time. IIRC (If I Recall Correctly), this was around the time of the Sochi Winter Olympics (J’s wife was involved in some sort of security detail related to the Olympics). Anyway, we discussed a host of topics, from the possible danger his wife might face to the rumors of an increase in sex trafficking with the massive influx of people going to the Olympics. From there we branched off and discussed sexual assault statistics, Rape Culture, and more. I began to notice that J was more interested in learning about me, which was evident by the fact that he kept posing questions; questions that seemed quite genuine. I never got the impression that he was feigning interest or trying to lead our conversation in any particular direction. Over time, we came to discuss my worldview. J asked me what my religious beliefs were. I was hesitant to answer his question. After all, I live in the South, which is deeeeeeply religious. And there I was, a bartender, dependent upon the good graces of guests to make a living. If I said anything untoward or potentially offensive to a guest, I could risk losing a tip (or worse, since the state of Florida allows employees to be fired for anything).
Continue reading “Donald Trump is already proving a liability for the GOP”
