Trump Shares Responsibility for Murder of Heather Heyer

The terrorist act committed in Charlottesville, Virginia by a right wing, white supremacist makes me angry, sad and afraid for a number of reasons. The senseless murder of Heather Heyer, a young woman lending her voice to those protesting the ugly bigotry of the Unite the Right rally being held by white nationalists, neo-nazi’s and Ku Klux Klan members, is first among them. The President’s disgusting “all sides do it” response is another reason.

With a trio of white supremacists among the senior White House staff it’s no wonder Trump can’t be bothered to make a statement condemning the words and deeds of the leaders of the rally. There’s Steve Bannon, formerly of Breitbart News which by his own description is a website that caters to white supremacists/white nationalists. There’s his friend and fellow white nationalist Stephen Miller, who on national television stated “Our opponents, the media and the whole world, will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned” when discussing Trump’s attempted Muslim travel ban. And there’s Sebastian Gorka, another Breitbart News alumnus, who though lesser known is no less vile, he wears a Nazi pin to work every day at the While House.

If one of President Obama’s senior advisors had worn a Black Power pin you can’t tell me there wouldn’t have been tens of thousands of protesters marching on the White House. My Dad and three uncles, like most young men their age, joined up to fight the Nazi’s in World War II. While all my family members returned home, some with life long health problems, many of their friends didn’t. It sickens me that after the sacrifices all those men and women made in the 1940’s this nation’s current president embraces the philosophical descendants of Adolf Hitler and the treasonous, secessionists like Jefferson Davis.

Event organizers and speakers like former KKK grand wizard David Duke and Richard Spencer, one of the founders of the alt-right movement, as well as president of the National Policy Institute white nationalist think tank are an ugly reminder that this nation still hasn’t gotten past the sins of its founding fathers. It’s even more frustrating that Donald Trump ascended to the presidency with the vocal support of people like them. He got that support by using their hate filled racist language to arouse white voters. They’re some of the few who still support him so it’s no surprise he hasn’t called them out on their hateful actions.

Trump has used the megaphone that the mainstream media have given him since he announced his run for the presidency to activate the pathetic excuses for humanity that make up the white nationalists and he rode it to the top. Since his candidacy we’ve seen people once on the fringe come to the fore and be outspoken about their racist beliefs. After one high school student was informed that flying the Confederate Battle flag from his bumper was unacceptable on campus he came to a city council meeting to defend his right. I was stunned and disappointed but at the time I hadn’t realized what Trump had unleashed, now I know and it saddens me for the country and the people who will suffer.

I was proud of this country when we elected our first black president by a substantial margin. I was sickened when we elected his anti-thesis as his successor. Since he didn’t win by a majority of the votes perhaps there is still hope.

Published in the Seguin Gazette, August 18, 2017

Trump Supporters Must Denounce White Supremacists like Dylann Roof

A radical Christian white supremacist went on trial last week for the nine murders he committed June 17, 2015. That’s not the phrasing you’re likely to hear from ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox. There you’ll hear that Dylann Roof is accused of 33 counts of hate crimes for the murders he committed that night at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. You’ll probably hear or read that he wanted to start a race war but unlike the Muslims who killed so many in San Bernadino later that year no one wants to talk about how Roof was radicalized.

Now think about how many Americans react to such violence perpetrated by Muslims, too many of us want to throw them all out of the country. President-elect Trump on the campaign trail said he thought it would be a good idea to register all Muslims. We all know how well that worked out for German Jews and Americans of Japanese ancestry. Many Americans screech that if Muslims don’t believe in such violence then their religious leaders should speak out against it. I don’t hear them calling for Christian churches like the one Roof attended to speak out in condemnation.

Analysis by the Southern Poverty Law Center suggests that Roof was a reader and commenter on The Daily Stormer, a white nationalist news website. Roof cited the website of the Council of Conservative Citizens as his gateway to white nationalism. The Council’s president Earl Holt issued a statement saying that Roof had some "legitimate grievances" against black people. Harold Covington, the founder of the Northwest Front called the attack "a preview of coming attractions". These groups like to refer to themselves as the alt-right as if they’re just another variant of conservatism and the media generally lets them get away with it.

Roof’s horrendous acts occurred well before Trump began his run for the presidency yet he openly courted the alt-right/white nationalist vote and their campaign donations. Since last year numerous media sources have reported on drastic increases hate crimes yet the soon to be leader of the most powerful nation on earth has not thought to condemn these acts instead he tweets insults at the Saturday Night Live cast in the middle of the night.

When you’re out Christmas shopping somewhere you’ll see a sign that says “You break it, you bought it.” It’s time for those who voted for Trump to own the racist remarks he’s made. It’s on you because you’ve given him a green light by knowingly casting your ballot in his favor. You are in part responsible for the hate crime spike because your support and your vote for Trump gave permission for racist speech and as we know from Roof having permission to speak such ugliness turns into ugly acts.

If you think you’re a good person and voted for Trump because he’s a Republican it’s time for you to step up and condemn his racism and that of many of his supporters. It’s time you prove you’re a good person by running the racists out of the Republican Party once and for all. While you’re at it you need call out those that think it’s OK to make fun of the disabled like Trump did on national television when he demeaned a journalist who offended his tender feelings. You also need to intervene when you see some misogynist in the work place grabbing a woman or sexually harassing her as Trump so proudly stated he did. You need to step up or you’re just another racist, misogynist and not a good person. So which are you?

Published in the Seguin Gazette December 16, 2016