I have to write about what’s on my mind today – the promise of America. As I have said before I believe in it. Maybe, even more because I am a first generation American, than if I were not.
Because I believe in the promise of America, I am deeply affected by everything that has transpired in the capitol of our country over the last 4 years. At first, I did not believe that Donald Trump would be elected “president” of these United States. People close to me said he would – my husband Lorenzo, some of my family and friends. They said it would happen because of the under-current of white supremacy that runs deep in America. I thought them a bit cynical. But then, our ears were regularly assaulted by #45’s “dogwhistles”!
I knew that many Americans tend to be less informed than our counterparts in other modern industrialized countries. But I thought surely most intelligent people would see through a con artist’s obvious games and lies.
Honestly, I was counting on American women to support one of the most qualified candidates for the presidency, man or woman, that I have ever seen – Hillary Clinton. Come November 2016, I realized that despite Trump’s disgraceful treatment of women in general – we saw it with our eyes; we heard it with our ears, in his own words – huge numbers of American women were still willing to send this man to the White House to disrespect our daughters and set a horrific example for young men all over our country.
Not only was he a notorious misogynist, he was also extremely unqualified to become the top executive in the country. He pretended to be a good businessman but was actually a rather incompetent and dishonest one. He had proved himself to be a racist in his business practices. He made anti-Semitic statements. He called Latinx immigrants “rapists and murderers” and railed against black and brown immigrants from “shithole countries”. Altogether, a despicable person to be a President for ALL Americans. And yet, so many voters chose him, that the electoral college gave him their votes – and the rest of us, incredulous as we were, accepted those results.
Move to the present. After an unbelievable tax giveaway to the wealthiest in our country, after a special council investigation for encouraging Russian interference in the 2016 election, after an impeachment for attempting to bribe Ukrainian officials to manufacture “dirt” on Joe Biden and all the lies, more lies and whopping lies… tens of thousands of fact-checked and debunked lies – spewed across the world, and finally, the totally incompetent and dishonest response to the Covid-19 pandemic – imagine that over 70 million voters still believe this monumental Liar – and would follow him off a cliff – if he told them to.
Not an exaggeration – remember the Cult leader, Jim Jones who told his followers to drink poison – and they did it and died!
In spite of our fellow citizens’ cult-like denial of many truths, and belief in an unmitigated Liar, so many Americans, thankfully, worked our butts off, donated, phone-banked, wrote letters, emailed, texted – even risked everything, knocking on doors to convince more voters to support the Biden-Harris ticket. And Biden-Harris won. Being the narcissistic, self-indulgent Liar that he is, #45 has assaulted all of us every day since his defeat with declarations of victory, fraudulent voting practices etc, etc, etc. This is an election he lost by millions of votes – certified by the tally of electoral college votes from 50 states – the same number of electoral votes by which he won in 2016. But Trump is Trump…
So, for the last three days, as I have sat here, taking in the insurrection that this Cult Leader and demagogue has instigated at our seat of government – so that he would not have to accept the result of the 2020 election, which our officials were trying to certify – I am not surprised at his treasonous behavior, nor that of his followers, who function the way blind cult followers do.
But I am horrified and angered by the response of the Security Leaders who are charged with the protection of the Capitol Building and those who work within. I was a Freshman at Columbia University in New York in 1961 – I and my friends were involved in protests, regularly supporting the Civil Rights Movement, protesting the Vietnam War, protesting racist policies on our campuses. I remember, the cops smashing our people over the head with their batons, spreading tear-gas, using dogs and fire hoses to break up and injure activists – peaceful activists, marching peacefully to exercise our rights as citizens to obtain equal education – or just simply to vote. Remember Edmund Pettis Bridge where John Lewis’ skull was cracked open? More recently, we have all witnessed the treatment of protesters marching for equal justice and fair treatment by police. We have seen the use of rubber bullets at close range, batons, tazers and tear gas – most of this police behavior – unprovoked by peaceful protesters.
How is it that so little force was used against insurrectionists who were called to Washington by a Cult leader who refused to accept the results of a legitimate election – who told us he would refuse, by predicting that the results would be fraudulent if he lost – even before the votes were cast? How is it that authorization to deploy National Guard folk was refused or delayed until after the Capitol was breached and Secret Service had to remove the Vice President and Congressional leaders. Where were the paddy wagons so often filled with black and brown protesters? Why weren’t insurrectionists who took weapons and explosives to the capitol immediately arrested and searched rather than being allowed to simply walk away?
Do white Americans recognize “white privilege” being practiced here? Will our officials demand a full investigation and accountability for this failure of law enforcement?
I am angry. I still believe in the Promise of America…is my faith justified?