Pssst, America! Your White Privilege is Showing!
This isn’t democracy, it’s a deadly temper tantrum
“You Don’t Always Get What you Want” — The Rolling Stones
All of my children have had the same kindergarten teacher. They walked out of his class knowing their ABC’s and 123’s, that practice makes better, and you don’t always get what you want.
My last child is in kindergarten and her older siblings have prepped her from the time she was waddling around in diapers that she doesn’t always get what she wants.
Not getting what you want is a basic rule of thumb in parenting and in teaching. If we always gave in we will have raised a generation of spoiled, misguided children who think the world revolves around them.
But apparently thousands of grown adults were never taught to that basic rule for living and threw a large scale temper tantrum in the Nation’s capital on Wednesday.
Democracy
Democracy describes a form of government. It comes from the Greek “rule by the people.”
In a democracy people vote to have a say in how the government is run.
In the United States we vote for our presidents. We don’t always like who is elected, but that’s why we get another chance four years later to keep the president or choose another one.
November 2020, the people voted and demanded a new leader. They voted for Joe Biden.
But that didn’t sit well with some people and so they rioted
Or more accurately, they stormed the Capitol building, created havoc, endangered lives, and strolled out without a care to the destruction they left behind.
White American self-proclaimed Patriots destroyed offices, defaced buildings, and demonstrated the blatant hypocrisy of what happens when you’re a White protestor having a temper tantrum and when you’re a Black protestor demanding the right not to be killed for walking down the street.
A President’s Incendiary Words Encourage a Riot
President Trump lost the popular and electoral vote. Nonetheless, he encouraged and continues to encourage his supporters to protest the vote and election of President-elect Joe Biden.
President Trump tried to bully Vice President Mike Pence to “do the right thing,”and when Pence refused to fold under the pressure, the President maligned the Vice President tweeting that “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage,” to reject state-certified votes that show Biden won the electoral college 306–232.
The president’s incendiary tweets and speeches have given his supporters permission to flagrantly flex their White supremacy and allowed them safe passage to the Capitol building where they destroyed offices and then were allowed to stroll out triumphantly without consequence.
In a Twitter video, rioters were seen leaving the Capitol and can be heard threatening, “Next time we come back, it’s not going to be like this. Next time we come back, we’re gonna be armed.”
Protest versus Riot
According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law a protest is “a usually organized public demonstration of disapproval” (of some law, policy, idea, or state of affairs).
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law, further defines riot as “a disturbance of the peace created by an assemblage of usually three or more people acting with a common purpose and in a violent and tumultuous manner of the terror of the public.”
What happened on Wednesday, January 7, 2021 was a riot, not a peaceful protest.
At the first presidential debate on September 29,2020, he directed the Proud Boys to “Stand back and stand by,” which is exactly what they did.
They waited for the word and got it when President Trump stood on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. and told them they needed to “fight much harder,” bringing with them their violence and terrorism to the doorstep of the Nation’s Capitol building.
Dangerous Hypocrisy
What happened on Wednesday should not be a surprise. The nation saw the hypocrisy as rubber bullets and tear gas attacked protestors during Black Lives Matter marches over the summer, but gun-toting protestors were allowed into Michigan’s State Capitol building after a temperature check.
President Trump has shown that there are two sets of rules:
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”— Donald J. Trump, May 2020, Responding to BLM Protests
“Go home. We love you. You’re very special. […] I know how you feel.” — Donald J. Trump, Response to White Nationalist attempted coup, breaking into the U.S Capitol forcing U.S. Senators and Congressmen to shelter in place under their desks.
Time to Impeach…again
Instead of conceding and following the 240 year tradition of a peaceful transfer of power, we have a president who is kicking and screaming his way out the door. His tempter tantrum leaves behind a country divided and in turmoil.
Two weeks before the swearing in of Presidential-elect Joe Biden, there is talk of impeaching President Trump…again.
After yesterday’s antics in Washington, D.C. it is clear that President Trump doesn’t understand how democracy works, inciting violence amongst his supporters.
His false claims of fraudulent voting encouraged sedition and pushed the misguided to flood the streets of D.C. and storm the Capitol causing U.S. Senators and Congressmen to shelter in place under their desks.
Jumping Ship
In the wake of yesterday’s violent assault on democracy, White House officials are resigning including: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Special Envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney, and Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger.
While other White Officials are contemplating resignation, there are others who will remain because they fear who will be installed in their positions in the wake of their leaving.
Heads in the Sand
As America grapples with the scenes that unfolded in our Nation’s Capital yesterday, there are many Trump supporters who continue to support the President refusing to see the violence and hypocrisy surrounding the riots.
There are supporters who are putting their head in the sand and refusing to acknowledge that this isn’t a pro-life presidency.
It is a presidency that encourages unrest, chaos, disorder, and turmoil. It is one that encourages White Nationalism. It is one that that doesn’t take responsibility for its own actions, instead pointing fingers at everyone else to deflect it’s own gross incompetence. It is a presidency that has no loyalties or scruples.
This is Trump’s America and it’s a disgrace. Do Better America. Your White Privilege is showing.
