My heart grieves for America!
I really wish that I could avoid making the proverbial “I told you so!” type statements whenever I talk about what we are witnessing in this country right now, but honestly…”I told you so!”
I stand amazed at how many people have been so naïve as to think America has moved past its foundational past, which was built from the very beginning on racism and White supremacy.
So many of the things we are witnessing today have taken the Band-Aid off of these old wounds that have never been properly dealt with, addressed or healed in America.
Take this presidential election for example. Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has shown himself to be one of the most controversial, divisive and ill-prepared candidates in the history of American politics, yet he has been able to galvanize some of the worst elements of American society in a way that has not been since the Civil Rights era.
Trump has spewed some of the most vile and disrespectful things imaginable, yet many of his loyal supporters refuse to part ways with him because he resonates with them.
If you’ve ever heard the old adage, “Birds of a feather, flock together,” then you understand many of the people who gravitate to Trump and others like him.
Then came the news of the infamous Trump tape, where he can be heard on tape making extremely lewd and vulgar remarks about sexually assaulting women, and forcing himself on women without their consent. This was his voice and these were his words. This was not manipulated. It was Trump, and everyone, including all of his loyal supporters could hear his words. At the recent presidential debate this past Sunday evening, Trump referred to the sexually charged rhetoric as mere “words” and “locker room talk,” which prompted many of his seemingly loyal supporters to jump ship and withdraw their support.
I witnessed several other loyal supporters, including many “so-called” members of the evangelical community and some Republican Party loyalists, double-down on their support for Trump, or remain silent concerning the matter altogether.
It has been an amazing thing to see how many of these dedicated Trump surrogates have tried to spin this situation, but it shouldn’t be a surprise, because many of these same people have done the same thing when it came to the other incendiary things he’s said and done. Many of these same Republican Party loyalists, “so-called” evangelicals, and even some women, have chosen to stick by Trump, yet have consistently belittled and vilified a scandal-free President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
What a shame!
Now, many Republicans and Trump supporters call themselves wanting to jump off the Trump train, when in actuality, Trump is nothing more than the reaping of a harvest of seeds that America has sown since inception. You knew who Trump was before the tape was leaked, so please don’t jump off the train now without acknowledging that this monster was birthed, nurtured and cultivated by America itself.
Trump is America’s baby, and America has served as his surrogate. America has carried the spirit of Trump in its womb since this country’s inception, and now it is too late to abort it.
Trump is here and he has all of his parents’ characteristics, qualities and mannerisms. Trump is the splitting image of his parent – full of racism and White supremacy for the entire nation and world to see.
Trump is America’s gift and curse to itself, for what it has done to Black people, as well as others, and for what America has knowingly allowed to carry-on here for years, without even an ounce of collective remorse or universal repentance. I mean, think about it for a minute, if you will.
America has yet to do right by Black people. America’s taken care of everyone else, but not Black people.
America has yet to officially repent as a nation for the barbaric institution of slavery.
America has yet to provide reparations for the years’ worth of free labor given to this nation by Blacks who helped build its infrastructure, as well as build some of its most profitable companies and industries.
America has yet to right the wrongs relative to the unjust laws that have disenfranchised our people, ripped apart our families, and failed to provide justice for us as we were viciously attacked and murdered by White domestic terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and law enforcement officials.
America has chosen to cultivate the seeds of racism and White supremacy that birthed this nation, over changing this nation’s future by making all of these wrongs, right.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best at the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when he boldly declared the following profound statement on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; comparing the struggle for Blacks to receive equal rights to something that many of us can relate to – a bounced check. King said:
“In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, Black men as well as White men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’”
The Bible says in Galatians 6:7, “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Congratulations, America!
You should be extremely proud of the seeds you have sown; seeds of racism and White supremacy that have grown up from infants to more mature and influential adults.
The sad reality is, Trump is not the only one of the seeds who has grown up in this country, following in the footsteps of the traditional American ideology of racism and White supremacy. There are many more who are working in Corporate America, serving as elected officials, patrolling the streets as members of law enforcement, teaching our children and voting for Trump in the upcoming November election.
Jeffrey L. Boney serves as Associate Editor and is an award-winning journalist for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey is a frequent contributor on the Nancy Grace Show and has a daily radio talk show called Real Talk with Jeffrey L. Boney. He is a Next Generation Project Fellow, dynamic, international speaker, experienced entrepreneur, business development strategist and Founder/CEO of the Texas Business Alliance. If you would like to request Jeffrey as a speaker, you can reach him at jboney1@forwardtimes.com