My nephew Randy stopped by on Wednesday, the day after the election, and joked that now that Donald Trump was elected I'd have plenty of blog material for the next four, maybe eight years.
But I told him no, that I wanted Donald Trump to be a good successful president for all our sakes. I told him that I had less-than-zero desire of becoming a professional Donald trump critic and that I hope I don't have to be.
In truth, turning into a daily Jeremiah would surely grind down my spirit.
In truth I don't even want to write about politics all for a while. I want to think and write about other things for a while. Some happy, uplifting things would be nice.
And yet here we are, only three days after Donald Trump's election and already reports of violence and intimidation against Muslims, Hispanics, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community have made the news.
Yesterday in Royal Oak, Michigan a group of white middle school students chanted "Build The Wall! Build The Wall!" in the school lunch room.
Also in the days following the election:
But I told him no, that I wanted Donald Trump to be a good successful president for all our sakes. I told him that I had less-than-zero desire of becoming a professional Donald trump critic and that I hope I don't have to be.
In truth, turning into a daily Jeremiah would surely grind down my spirit.
In truth I don't even want to write about politics all for a while. I want to think and write about other things for a while. Some happy, uplifting things would be nice.
And yet here we are, only three days after Donald Trump's election and already reports of violence and intimidation against Muslims, Hispanics, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community have made the news.
Yesterday in Royal Oak, Michigan a group of white middle school students chanted "Build The Wall! Build The Wall!" in the school lunch room.
Also in the days following the election:
| "Trump" was written on the door of a Muslim prayer room at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. |  |
 | Racist graffiti was scrawled in a bathroom in a Minnesota high school. |
| "Black lives don't matter and neither does your votes," was painted on a wall in Durham, North Carolina. |  |
A man came up behind a student at San Jose State University yanked off her head scarf, then quickly ran off.
A high school student in Redding, California, posted an online video of himself handing letters with the word "deportation" written across the top to students of color. The student said he thought the video was funny.
A high school student in Redding, California, posted an online video of himself handing letters with the word "deportation" written across the top to students of color. The student said he thought the video was funny.
| At Canisius College, a Catholic College in Buffalo, New York, some students hung a black baby doll by its neck from a dorm room curtain rod and posted the picture online. |  |
And the Ku Klux Klan has announced that it will hold a 'victory parade' in North Carolina in December because, according to the headline of the Klan's website, "Trump's race united my people."
And these are only some of the stories that have made the news so far.
I ran into the mother of one of my piano students in Kroger's yesterday afternoon and she told me with a worried expression that in her child's school a white youngster told a black youngster that now she was going to have to start sitting on the back of the bus. The white youngster thought this was a funny joke. The black youngster not so much.
President-elect Trump, you've announced that upon taking office your first priority would be health care, second would be immigration, and third would be jobs. But I'm telling you that you need to re-designate those priorities to second, third and fourth place, and make your first priority stopping the new hatefulness that, let's be honest, your nasty campaign rhetoric has wrought.
But you can't even wait until you take over the Oval Office to do this. This is an urgent situation that is already out of control, and you need to handle it right now, today. You need to make an immediate national appearance and in strong words call for an end to the vicious
insults, harassment and attacks against Muslims, Hispanics, and others of foreign background or descent, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community by persons who call themselves your followers and who now feel empowered by your victory to persecute others. You must insist that you do not stand for or condone such behavior, that you are not on the side of persons who commit such behavior, that you and your supporters condemn it and that you and your supporters stand firm against racism and bigotry. You must denounce the Ku Klux Klan and warn them not to dare to use your name in a victory parade because you are not, not, not, any ally of theirs. You must reiterate over and over the message of your victory speech that it's time for us to come together as one united people and work together, Americans of all races, religions, and backgrounds - and include here genders and orientations - to unify our great country. You must assure all Americans,
I ran into the mother of one of my piano students in Kroger's yesterday afternoon and she told me with a worried expression that in her child's school a white youngster told a black youngster that now she was going to have to start sitting on the back of the bus. The white youngster thought this was a funny joke. The black youngster not so much.
President-elect Trump, you've announced that upon taking office your first priority would be health care, second would be immigration, and third would be jobs. But I'm telling you that you need to re-designate those priorities to second, third and fourth place, and make your first priority stopping the new hatefulness that, let's be honest, your nasty campaign rhetoric has wrought.
But you can't even wait until you take over the Oval Office to do this. This is an urgent situation that is already out of control, and you need to handle it right now, today. You need to make an immediate national appearance and in strong words call for an end to the vicious
insults, harassment and attacks against Muslims, Hispanics, and others of foreign background or descent, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community by persons who call themselves your followers and who now feel empowered by your victory to persecute others. You must insist that you do not stand for or condone such behavior, that you are not on the side of persons who commit such behavior, that you and your supporters condemn it and that you and your supporters stand firm against racism and bigotry. You must denounce the Ku Klux Klan and warn them not to dare to use your name in a victory parade because you are not, not, not, any ally of theirs. You must reiterate over and over the message of your victory speech that it's time for us to come together as one united people and work together, Americans of all races, religions, and backgrounds - and include here genders and orientations - to unify our great country. You must assure all Americans,
| ...those of us who believe that we are all created equal, |  |
 | ...and called to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, |
| ...as well as those who don't believe it, |  |
...you must assure us all that, contrary to what some people in this country might believe today, you will be a great civil rights president.
And then be one.
And then be one.
References:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/us/post-election-hate-crimes-and-fears-trnd/index.html
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-updates-trail-guide-kkk-trump-north-carolina-1478822255-htmlstory.html
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/us/post-election-hate-crimes-and-fears-trnd/index.html
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-updates-trail-guide-kkk-trump-north-carolina-1478822255-htmlstory.html
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