The Tipping Point

Nasty, ugly racism. Out of the closet and in our faces.

Racism is as American as apple pie, and now the KKK's poster child has has crawled once again out of his stinking, rotten hidey hole to spout his nonsense and embolden other scum like him. And the others of his party are complicit in their silence.

I can't count how many times on these pages I have written, "As if things can't get more outrageous..." And yet...

A few days ago, 45 sent out a heinous tweet, below (click to see the whole thread of the tweet)

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

This one has hit a primal part in us. After this tweet, I've seen more people who are usually quiet on politics, speaking out against this. I'm gratified for people doing what is right.

"Go back where you came from" is a tired trope, and a transparent one. The tweet is a detestable, xenophobic, racist rant. This kind of rhetoric is reprehensible in our hearts, reprehensible in our heads, and reprehensible in our courts.

It doesn't matter that three of the four members of Congress that this was directed were born in the United States. That's beside the point. As Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) said in a tweet,

Only one of the Members of Congress pictured below was born outside the United States.

It’s me, also the only one who was not the subject of a racist tweet by the President today. All of us — including those like @Ilhan and me born elsewhere — are proud Americans. pic.twitter.com/EOUCCj7Ldx

— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) July 14, 2019

And in fact, 23 of the 435 duly-elected members of the House of Representatives (including Salud Carbajal, who represents me well) and five of the 100 members of the Senate were born outside the United States. We are a nation of immigrants, from North to South, from East to West, from the strawberry fields to the halls of Congress.

SCROTUS's tweet is racist, but more than that: it's misogynistic. He is threatened deeply by these strong, young, outspoken women who were elected in their districts as a direct response to his existence in our government. His most vicious attacks are on race and on gender.

We just cannot stand for a racist president. It's been more than obvious for years that he is racist to his core. We're all aware of plenty of examples.


His ugly racism was apparent before he was "elected":

1973: The United States Justice Department brought charges against the Trump Management Company alleging discrimination against black tenant applicants.

1989: He bought a full-page ad in all four major New York City newspapers, demanding "Bring back the death penalty" a couple weeks after the arrest of the "Central Park Five." The five black and Latino teenagers arrested for rape and later found to be falsely accused, after spending years in prison. Since then, he hasn't backed down, refusing to apologize and saying as late as a few weeks ago: "You have people on both sides of that."

1993: He had a disagreement with some Native American casinos that were in competition with his casinos, and he went off on a disgusting racist rant in front of the United States House Subcommittee investigating a modification of legislation surrounding Indian casinos (watch the video in that link). Among other things, he said, "They don't look like Indians to me." He and Roger Stone also concocted some hateful attack ads.

2004-2005: He treated African-American contestants on The Apprentice differently and even had the idea to do a season of white vs. black contestants. He allegedly used racist language to Michael Cohen about black contestants on his show, as well black voters being "too stupid" to vote.

2011: He started the odious birtherism claim that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

Here is an excellent summary from first-hand witnesses to his racist actions. Trump's Racism: An Oral History.

And there are so, so, so many examples after his election, with the whole world's cameras and Twitter feeds trained on him. Just a few below:

• Asserting that a "Mexican judge" (who happened to be born in the United States) could not rule fairly on his goddam wall
• Calling Mexicans "drug dealers, criminals, and rapists" 
• Wanting more immigrants from "countries like Finland" and not from "shithole countries," by which he meant Haiti and African nations
• Referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas" ad nauseum
• The Muslim travel ban
• Using the term "the blacks"
• Embracing the KKK and calling them "very fine people" after the deadly violence in Charlottesville.
• Withholding aid to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and mocking them with his fake accent pronunciation
• Taking brown babies from their mothers and putting them in cages
• Saying over and over "I've got great genes" and even having the White House physician assert that as fact after his physical exam. "Great genes" is a white supremacist dog-whistle.
• Calling football player Colin Kaepernick "un-American" while ignoring the reasons for his one-knee protest

....and, most contemptible of all, this week's tweet. And doubling down on this tweet. And tripling down on this tweet.

And basking in his supporters' support of the tweet. At a rally in North Carolina, he railed on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for a full five minutes, whistling to his supporters with charged language, "If they don’t love it, tell them to leave it." And then he basked in their chants of "Send her back!" for at least 12 long seconds.

He also disparaged seven other women in his speech. He hates women. He hates people of color. He detests women of color, especially if they have power. He fears them.

In defense of his garbage, he has said "A lot of people love it." And that, my friend, is the problem.

There was of course widespread condemnation his comments around the country. The Democrat-majority House of Representatives promptly voted to condemn the remarks.

The Republican response?

Crickets.

Defense.

And this. This outrageous statement from Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA): "I'm a person of color. I'm white."


45 is pandering to his base, which is obviously more and more abhorrent. My attitude and words in an open letter to Trump supporters right after the election were: "I, like most of us on the Left, don’t think that all of you on the Right are racist, homophobic, or misogynist as individuals. I don’t think you are a racist...."

But now, in their overt support of blatant and overbearing racism and misogyny, I have to say today: Yes. Yes, you are racist and misogynist if you support this man. The Republicans in their silence and their complicity have demonstrated that they are the Racist Party. There is absolutely no white-washing (pun intended) it now. They've earned the nickname ROP. Racist Old Party.

What gives me hope: The majority of Americans are not racist and they are not Republican. We hear cries of condemnation from all corners. The majority of Americans will NOT stand for it, and that shall be borne out now and on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.


Lastly, here is Stephen Colbert, in his witty, truthful, brutal way, to explain it all to you.












"A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Stand up, speak out, take a stand. It's up to each of us.

#Resist!