President Trump will be the next White man to be acquitted by an almost-all-White jury of crimes that everyone knows he committed.
The progress America made from 1964 to 2017 is undeniable. For people of color and women (White and non-White), educational and economic opportunities are significantly improved. Although not yet equal, the playing field is more balanced.
When White male politicians talk about “Freedom from an Oppressive Government,” what they mean is the freedom to do whatever they want, without consequences. This is not freedom; it is tyranny. “Make America Great Again” really means “Make America White Again.”
When I watched President Obama’s 2012 re-election, I thought the Republican party as we knew it was finished. It had not modified its positions on so many issues regarding fairness in our nation. The party had minimal representation of people of color and women. The Republican party would have to move toward the center, modifying its positions and welcome diversity or it would quickly become powerless, I thought.
November’s election will be here soon enough. As a White man, I would hope that I would choose the best path for our nation, even it means less power for me. As the husband of a Black woman and the father of three Black sons, I have no choice.
Boy, was I wrong. In fact, as part of a global tide of White supremacy hiding inside less offensive language of nationalism pretending to be wearing the acceptable cloak of constitutional conservatism, the Republican party moved back to the 1950s. Moving “right” would have meant less spending and less government. That is not what has happened. It reclaimed itself “White.”
Trump did not create hatred, he just gave it oxygen to breathe and freedom to grow. Trump did not create racism, he just used it to reduce the opportunities for non-Whites to become Americans. Trump did not create sexual assault, he just made it easier for White men to do it without fear of legal consequence.
As Dr. King said, we will remember not so much the voices of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. After Trump is acquitted in the Senate, what choice will you make when you cast your vote on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020?
Every Republican senator, save one, is White. The only Black Republican congressman is retiring. Eighty-six percent of them are male. Do you really think the 2020 impeachment and election are not about White Male Power? Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell know that if they do not hold on to the White House and the Supreme Court, the Hail Lucifer the GOP caught in 2016 will end up in an orange ball of fire.
November’s election will be here soon enough. As a White man, I would hope that I would choose the best path for our nation, even it means less power for me. As the husband of a Black woman and the father of three Black sons, I have no choice.
When Eric Garner was murdered, whether his killer would be brought to justice was only about whether White men could still treat Black men like masters treated slaves.
When Mohamed Noor—a decorated cop—mistakenly killed a White woman in Minnesota, his conviction was only about whether a Black man could touch a White woman without being lynched.
If you think America will not go back to a world where White men legally have more rights to money and power than everyone else, I would counter that we are already there, and the last three years have moved us back faster than the 50 years before that moved us forward.
Trump did not create hatred, he just gave it oxygen to breathe and freedom to grow.
You think we can’t go back to the 1950s? My parents were born before then. Surely we can, in the blink of a signature.
You think we can’t go back to the 1920s, when Donald Trump’s Klansman father marched in New York and 1 in 8 White men in America were members of the Klan? Surely we can, and millions of White men (and women) would be happy to do so.
You think we can’t illegally imprison people of color in the USA? Surely we already do.
Make no mistake. The 2020 Election is not about taxes, the economy, Ukraine or Russia. It is about White Supremacy.
America truly stands at the precipice. We are at the beginning of a new America where color is an adjective not a definition, or this idea of a nation based on values instead of ethnicity is about to crash and burn. We are separated by those who want to go back, and those who want to move forward.
As Dr. King said, we will remember not so much the voices of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. After Trump is acquitted in the Senate, what choice will you make when you cast your vote on Tuesday, November 3, 2020? Will you choose “White”, or will you choose what’s right?
Seth Berger is head boys basketball coach at The Westtown School. He was Founder/CEO of And1 basketball apparel company. He has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Wharton.