On a number of occasions I've heard or read remarks from people who support Donald Trump to the effect that although they disapprove of his lying, his tweeting, his ineptitude, his nasty obnoxious language, his immorality, and his bad behavior in general, they still support him because of his conservative policy positions and his commitment to turning the Supreme Court into a politically far-right entity.
What an ironic turn last week, then, for those who've spent three-and-a-half years holding their noses and tolerating Trump's malfeasance when the Supreme Court with its majority of conservative justices, two of them hand-picked by Donald Trump himself, nonetheless delivered two major defeats to the conservative agenda when the Court ruled not only that transgenders have rights in the workplace but that the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers who were brought to this country as small children have the right to stay here.
These are rulings that might as well have been handed down by a Supreme Court shaped by Hillary Clinton.
But perhaps the opinions of the highest court in this country are really shaped not so much by whether the Justices are liberal or conservative, but by We, the People. If a Supreme Court Justice is astute and insightful they will know that - as Lin Manuel Miranda might put it - history has its eyes on them, and each of these judges will themselves be judged by history. And we are now living in a moment in history when the American public is calling out for tolerance, equality, inclusiveness, and civil rights, and not even Donald Trump's megaphone mouth, ham fists, appointed judges and personal army of automatronic puppet sycophants can hold back the tidal wave of change that is washing over our country.
Further irony is that it is Donald Trump himself who has been a driving force behind the very tidal wave that he now can't stop. Trump has solidified a deep divisiveness among Americans and stoked public outrage by his cruel policies against immigrants, his attempts at suppression of LGBTQ rights and his encouragement of White Nationalist and racist attitudes in this country, attitudes that were bad enough when they were forced to stay put under the rock of social censure. But it's been during Trump's presidency that racism, bigotry, homophobia and xenophobia have boldly slithered out from under that rock and risen to their ugly ascendancy.
But, of course, there's far more to the social changes going on in our country than a reaction to the doctrines of Donald Trump. It's taken one too many acts of police brutality, one too many murders against a person of color, for white America to finally be shocked into awareness - no, not true awareness, nowhere near true awareness, but perhaps the the merest hint of a shadow of awareness - of the realities of life for people of color in this country.
So let the statues that have celebrated the sins of oppression, slavery, and racism come down. Take down all the remaining symbols of our national shame and let them cease to oppress those whose ancestors suffered under the power of the men of which they are the representations.
And by all means, make Juneteenth a national holiday. Let Juneteenth be a day of remembrance and a celebration of heritage for those whose ancestors were freed from the cruel, evil yoke of slavery. And let Juneteenth also be a day of celebration for all Americans that on June 19, 1865, the day slavery was finally abolished in the United States, this land became a better place than it had been since the first African slave was brought to the shores of Virginia in 1619.
One hundred and fifty-five years later we as country still have far to go. But hopefully these days we're getting a little closer.
What an ironic turn last week, then, for those who've spent three-and-a-half years holding their noses and tolerating Trump's malfeasance when the Supreme Court with its majority of conservative justices, two of them hand-picked by Donald Trump himself, nonetheless delivered two major defeats to the conservative agenda when the Court ruled not only that transgenders have rights in the workplace but that the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers who were brought to this country as small children have the right to stay here.
These are rulings that might as well have been handed down by a Supreme Court shaped by Hillary Clinton.
But perhaps the opinions of the highest court in this country are really shaped not so much by whether the Justices are liberal or conservative, but by We, the People. If a Supreme Court Justice is astute and insightful they will know that - as Lin Manuel Miranda might put it - history has its eyes on them, and each of these judges will themselves be judged by history. And we are now living in a moment in history when the American public is calling out for tolerance, equality, inclusiveness, and civil rights, and not even Donald Trump's megaphone mouth, ham fists, appointed judges and personal army of automatronic puppet sycophants can hold back the tidal wave of change that is washing over our country.
Further irony is that it is Donald Trump himself who has been a driving force behind the very tidal wave that he now can't stop. Trump has solidified a deep divisiveness among Americans and stoked public outrage by his cruel policies against immigrants, his attempts at suppression of LGBTQ rights and his encouragement of White Nationalist and racist attitudes in this country, attitudes that were bad enough when they were forced to stay put under the rock of social censure. But it's been during Trump's presidency that racism, bigotry, homophobia and xenophobia have boldly slithered out from under that rock and risen to their ugly ascendancy.
But, of course, there's far more to the social changes going on in our country than a reaction to the doctrines of Donald Trump. It's taken one too many acts of police brutality, one too many murders against a person of color, for white America to finally be shocked into awareness - no, not true awareness, nowhere near true awareness, but perhaps the the merest hint of a shadow of awareness - of the realities of life for people of color in this country.
So let the statues that have celebrated the sins of oppression, slavery, and racism come down. Take down all the remaining symbols of our national shame and let them cease to oppress those whose ancestors suffered under the power of the men of which they are the representations.
And by all means, make Juneteenth a national holiday. Let Juneteenth be a day of remembrance and a celebration of heritage for those whose ancestors were freed from the cruel, evil yoke of slavery. And let Juneteenth also be a day of celebration for all Americans that on June 19, 1865, the day slavery was finally abolished in the United States, this land became a better place than it had been since the first African slave was brought to the shores of Virginia in 1619.
One hundred and fifty-five years later we as country still have far to go. But hopefully these days we're getting a little closer.
Reference:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/interactive/slavery-united-states/
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