A Post Racial Parable

                Racist: a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.

                We spent last weekend at a cabin in the mountains with friends—liberal ones even, of whom I am especially fond—where we had extremely limited cell phone service and absolutely no TV or radio. We had a great time not checking Facebook every few minutes and not watching any news whatsoever, opting for a fabulous ghost town-to-caved-in-tunnel hike along an old railroad bed and having an absolute riot with friends drinking beer and not talking politics.

                But on the way home, mostly in an effort to hear how the Rockies had done without us to cheer them on (not well), we tuned into some news. In addition to our sad sports update we heard that the nation had been ripped in two along racial lines by President Trump and it might take generations to heal and that something very bad had happened in Charlottesville, VA.

                Wow. Upsetting news indeed.

              
                As it turns out three different white supremacy groups had gotten permits to demonstrate against the proposed removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee (Lee never owned slaves by the way, as an aside and a curiosity).  When confronted by groups identified in most reports as blacklivesmatter members and the new Antifa (anti-facist is what it stands for, at least) violence broke out and eventually a young woman named Heather Heyer was deliberately struck by a car driven by Alex Fields, Jr. who must be one of the dumbest human beings on the planet. Ms. Heyer died at the hospital of her injuries and I hope Mr. Fields is punished to the fullest extent of the law.

                Tragic. Absolutely tragic.

                The media was aghast that President Trump had lent support to white supremacists. Republicans were distraught that their party’s leader had failed to heal a nation in shock.  The new and somewhat less improved Fox News said that the President had missed a golden opportunity to reach out to all Americans and make it a healing moment.

                I was beside myself to find out what horrible words President Trump had spewed that had the nation in such a tizzy. I found four You Tube versions of his speech on Saturday and watched them all, certain that I had missed something.

                Here is what he said—in all four accounts: “We condemn in the strongest way possible this egregious behavior on many sides.  The hate and the division must stop.

          
                “…We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection for each other…Above all else we must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion or political party we are all Americans first.

                “…Our citizens must restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between each other. We must love each other, respect each other and cherish our history and our future together.”

                I was and still am thoroughly confused by the reactions I heard to those words. I kept googling to find out what huge chunk of the movie I must have missed. I found a recording of a group of counter protestors, some armed with clubs or tool handles, some wearing masks, who charged the group of other protestors and/or vice versa, it was actually hard to tell,  and an ugly fight broke out.

                So that wasn’t good, but I was still confused about the reaction to what I thought were very well-considered and forceful as well as healing words by the President. For those of you on the left, I am not making that up.

                I had to have it literally explained to me that the media and those they control like puppets were upset because Trump blamed all sides for the violence and failed to actually condemn the KKK, Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists specifically. I guess I get that but he also didn’t blame #onlyblacklivesmatter, and Anti-fa by name either.

                So on Monday I heard the President specifically condemn the KKK, Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists by name and not the other groups involved in the brawl. I heard him specifically offer his sympathies for the family of Heather Heyer (her tragic death occurred after his remarks above made on Saturday) and suggest that Alex Fields be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. He also said hate in any form must not be tolerated and that offenders on both sides need to change their ways.

 

                 Made sense to me.

                In response, the media again accused him of missing a healing moment. One of the Charlie’s (Rose, Todd…they all look and sound like Anderson Cooper to me) said he guessed that must have been an attempt to reassure the nation Trump was against hatred but Charlie didn’t think any Americans were convinced.

                There was also a point made that he didn’t condemn the white supremacist groups by name for 48 hours and only did so because of media pressure (don’t make me laugh) and did it by reading a speech written by someone else (because he’d be the first president to ever do that).

                They drew no comparison of that point to the fact that Barack Obama waited five days after a blacklivesmatter enthusiast shot four police officers to death in Dallas with a high powered rifle.

                The situation in Charlottesville was horrible. The KKK, Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists are disgusting as is everything for which they stand. I can, have and will continue to say the same about #onlyblacklivesmatter and Antifa.

                “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon.  

                “What do we want? We want ‘em dead.

                “When do we want it? Now!”

                Maybe you missed it but that was an #onlyblacklivesmatter march soundtrack shortly before the Dallas shootings.

                In no way does that justify anything the white supremacy groups say or stand for but it is one more block in the giant Jenga puzzle that establishes BLM and Antifa as hate groups.

                To blame Donald Trump’s seven-month presidency to date for the racist divide and outrage that exists today is the most incredibly thin and groundless accusation I have ever heard.

                After eight years of the “post-racial” Obama presidency during which he set this country back 50 years or more in race relations by his reaction to the cops stopping a black professor from breaking into his own home at two in the morning, to Trayvon Martin looking like his own son, to his thoughtless handling of events in Fergeson, St. Louis, Dallas, et al; and from his unfounded and statistically unsupported never-ending narrative of police oppression of black men I fail to see how anyone can place blame for racial tension anywhere but at the feet of that pretender of a president.

                There is not one unadjusted, untwisted, undistorted fact that supports the Obama narrative which is not the same thing as saying prejudice and racism didn’t exist in this country before his Nazi tactic of turning races against each other.

It did.

But not like it does today. And not like it did before a sitting president put it under his microscope and made it a burning and seemingly irreconcilable issue as long as anyone expects victim classes to take any responsibility for their own behavior.

“Until the police accept responsibility for their discriminatory behavior toward people of color, there can be no peace.”

                --Barack H. Obama

                “Our citizens must restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between each other. We must love each other, respect each other and cherish our history and our future together.”

                --Donald Trump

Which sounds more troublesome to you?

             If you really believe Donald Trump is the problem I have no words left.

I will not apologize, nor do I expect my President to apologize for believing that all lives matter and that all hate groups are bad.

I’m just that kind of racist. And you should be too.