Racism is Alive and Sick in America

I am old enough to have experienced the segregation of 1950’s Miami. My high school in North Miami was all white when I graduated in 1963. There were White and Colored water fountains in the stores as well as separate bathrooms. Some businesses even had separate entrances with racial designations. The city was segregated informally along certain roadway boundaries and most people knew which areas of Miami were white or black. Even though Brown v. Board of Education eliminated segregation of public schools, Miami didn’t comply until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While slavery was abolished with the 1865 signing of the 13th amendment to our Constitution, it took almost 100 years before we saw much advancement in the south.

Miami Orange Bowl Segregated Seating 1955

Here we are over a century and a half later, and we still find ourselves somewhat shocked that racism is more prevalent than most of us would like to have believed. The racism of yesterday was directed mostly at African Americans; today’s racism has been expanded with a xenophobic rage that now includes all non-whites.

Miami lunch counter sit-in

While I can’t condone racism among under-educated financially challenged Neanderthals, I certainly understand it better than when I see it coming from more educated and affluent individuals. Most recently, the specter of racism has been allowed to come out of hiding with renewed support from the most unlikely of places, our president.

The new face of racism

Donald Trump struck a chord with a closeted segment of racists from across America. The new racists no longer wear white sheets and hoods but now don red MAGA hats with the same associative armor of patriotism and religion worn by their KKK brethren. The acronym on their crimson chapeaus really means Make America White Again, but that would have been politically impolite. Translation, politically impolite equates to political suicide because the racist reference would be too in your face and not merely acknowledged with a wink and a nod, as is the custom.

Donald Trump has removed the stigma associated with blatant racism by making it mainstream. His racism hits on two fronts. It excites his racist base and plays to the financial sector that benefits from low wages, inferior education, and a tax burden shifted to the unenlightened masses. He has created a bogeyman scapegoat for the ills of the lower financial classes and avoids the work he might have if he were to actually attack our nation’s real problems.

Donald Trump’s border wall is nothing but a tribute to xenophobia and racism in America. He rails that brown-skinned people are coming to take your jobs, rape your women, get your children hooked on heroin, spread disease, force you to learn Spanish, and the Muslim extremists hidden in their ranks will bring terror to America and threaten its Christian values. This manufactured fear raises the ire amongst his base and gets him the cheers and applause his insecure persona requires. The man needs the accolades and attention more than the air he breathes.

Trump Supporters

The segregationists of yore promoted a separate but equal philosophy that belied the fact that they had no intention of allowing anything even remotely equal. The first black student I ever met was in college and we were in an auditorium class together. We both had graduated high school in segregated Miami but it was apparent from the reports he was turning in that the education he was afforded was not on par with mine. He was just as smart but just didn’t get the same education. I took his reports, corrected the grammar and spelling and he rewrote them. By the end of that class, he had learned enough that I was no longer making many corrections.

I am writing this on the holiday that we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. President Trump, unlike former presidents, had no activities planned on his calendar but had staffers write a quick Tweet. It was obvious that he didn’t write the Tweet because it was grammatically correct, had no spelling errors, and expressed a sentiment that could only have come from a person with empathy. We all know that DJT is incapable of pulling off that trifecta.

Staffer's write MLK tweet for Trump

Yes, racism is alive and sick in America. The small-minded among us now have a national platform and a new and powerful leader. We can only hope that recent elections and those in the near future will force these mentally challenged individuals back into the dark recesses of their own tortured souls.