Donald
Trump has been president now for about a month. In that short time,
he has effectively wrecked the perception of the office of the
presidency and flustered the world. The worst part of all of that is
that no one can stop him. Being that he’s riding with
Republicans as they’ve gerrymandered a majority in both
chambers of congress, he’s engineering a gas-filled train full
of dog sh#@% speeding downhill with hair on fire and it’s
crashing through the dazed and confused poor people of the United
States. The under story that we are intentionally ignoring
(collectively and otherwise) is the invisible man at the bottom of
that hill.
In
an administration less than 30-days old, Donald Trump has drawn the
ire of just about everyone imaginable. Aside from his clumsy attacks
on the mainstream media industry, he’s shown a disdain for the
tech Industry, constantly insulted the entertainment elite,
disrespected the Jewish community and assaulted the working class
while confusingly claiming to be a friend to each respective group.
But there’s been one constituency he’s yet to run
roughshod over, if only because he’s effectively ignored them:
Black Americans.
In
his history, he has enacted great affronts upon Black America and is
doing so today; he’s effectively done so without even
specifically mentioning them. It is true that he took a hot second
to recognize Black History Month - by insulting its existence - by
referring to the annual observation as “African American
History Month” (though, I’ve learned The White House
always has). In speaking his preferred terminology of the cultural
and historical recognition, he effectively stripped Black people of
their power of self-determination. He ignorantly referred to the
legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass as if he was still alive!
“Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done
an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice,”
the so-called president said.
Trump
made an unwittingly insensitive comment that demonstrates how
irrelevant Blacks are in his worldview. The publication The
Atlantic asked, simply: “Does Donald Trump actually know
who Frederick Douglass was?” and said that Trump’s
remarks were “transparently empty.” I watched him read
his Black History recognition statement from a cue card which clearly
demonstrated his lack of passion for the annual event and lack of
compassion for the people for which it’s intended to honor.
I’ve
got to wonder, who briefed Trump? Or even more concerning for me,
can you truly brief an idiot? The Washington Post’s Dana
Milbank joked that Trump “raised the dead.” From his
attempt to ban Muslims from immigrating to America to his covert
support for Russia, he’s shown himself to be no more than a
reactionary and imbecilic figurehead.
It’s
been proven clear that the Office of the President is occupied with
an often contradictory plethora of incoherence. Donald Trump has
presided over an administration pockmarked with publicly tendered
falsehoods, unprovoked attacks and defensive mischaracterizations,
while all along positing to the American people that all is well and
that this is what the American people want, when nothing can be
farther from the truth.
Aside
from the fact that a majority of the voting populace of the United
States’ citizenry did not vote for this so-called elected
leader, Donald Trump governs as if only white males exist. Just take
a look at his department cabinet heads he’s selected. Nothing
about it remotely represents this country’s populace nor does
it represent any semblance of Black America. But of course, that’s
his intent.
If
you are of the mind that the country is going in the “wrong
direction,” and that the culture of America is counter to all
that is right and good, then you probably blame the diverse band of
characters that have administered policies over the United States’
recent 50 year progression. Women and people of color—including
Black people—are responsible for that progressive change. Only
when white males exclusively take the reins does the country slip
into recessions, fiscal crises, or economic downturns. When we look
back at the eras of Nixon, Reagan and Bush II, we see corruption that
destroyed stability and grew collective anxiety. The saving grace
has consistently been the inclusion of minority minds.
Trump’s
cabinet has a smaller percentage of women and nonwhites than the
first cabinets of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and
George Bush. When Mr. Trump’s nominees are confirmed, women
and nonwhites will hold five of 22 cabinet or cabinet-level
positions. Only one of those people are Black. If that’s not
telling you something (without saying a word), then check your
pulse…you’re probably dead. And if you’re not
dead, you will be after Trump “invisibles” your
[explicative].
Oh,
speaking of those five women and non-whites in Trump’s cabinet,
they’ll also be in some of the lowest-ranking positions. None
of them are in the so-called inner cabinet, the four positions in
place since George Washington’s presidency: the attorney
general and the secretaries of state, Treasury and defense (formerly
called the secretary of war). If that doesn’t demonstrate how
little he regards your ability to negotiate the difficult, nothing
will. There was never even published Black people on his long list!
Now that’s what invisible looks like…do you see it?
For
years, Black Americans have been, at the least, invisible to Donald
Trump, unless the context was centered on crime and punishment. You
might recall some years back when real estate mogul Trump was at the
front of the pack calling for the literal blood of Black folk. Four
black teenagers and another Latino teen were charged and jailed on
shaky evidence after confessing to the crime under intense and
suspect questioning, and within two weeks following the attack, Trump
took out a full-page ad in four city newspapers advocating for the
reinstatement of the death penalty.
But
what we know, is that, these five young men, known as the Central
Park Five, were vindicated in 2002, when their convictions were
vacated after a convicted murderer and rapist confessed to the crime
— a confession that was corroborated by DNA evidence. (DNA was
never found connecting any of the Central Park Five to the crime.)
The Central Park Five were eventually awarded a $41 million
settlement from New York City in 2014. Trump? Loser…
As
a matter of fact, during Trump’s campaign for the presidency,
his sole recognition of Black America zeroed in on gangs, drug
dealers and deteriorated urban communities that needed a strong dose
of Trump-led federal intervention. Executing police powers upon the
most vulnerable people in this land is a dream come true for
supporters of Donald Trump. Law enforcement is a sure means to
making any chosen class of people invisible.
This
so-called president has chosen racists, rogues and liars to lead your
interests, and its doubtful that you are resisting. Going along to
get along is a sure recipe for becoming invisible. Just look at the
National Security adviser he chose: Gen. Michael Flynn, one of
Trump’s strongest supporters during the 2016 presidential
campaign, was forced out after a controversy involving his
communications with the Russian government. According to Fox News,
Flynn did not inform administration officials about the fact that he
was in frequent contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during
the transition period, including on the day that President Obama
slapped sanctions on the Russian government. Then he lied about it.
These are “the smartest guys in the room?” Well, at
least he wasn’t Black, right?
Hopefully
you get my point. If you don’t, I just hope don’t wait
until you’re made invisible to do so.
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