{"id":5076,"date":"2017-08-15T17:46:20","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T00:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/?p=5076"},"modified":"2017-08-18T07:03:13","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T14:03:13","slug":"thanks-civics-lesson-mr-president-institutionalized-racism-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2017\/08\/thanks-civics-lesson-mr-president-institutionalized-racism-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Just Gave Us the Mother of All Civics Lessons: How Racism Works"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I never (ever. ever) thought I would say this\u2013but the president taught us an important lesson today.<\/p>\n

First he bemoaned\u00a0the white supremacist activity as \u201cviolence from many sides, many sides<\/a>.\u201d Then he reappeared the next day with a bland and scripted statement condemning white supremacy\u2013 sounding for all the world like a child who\u2019s being made to apologize to his little sister, even though he doesn\u2019t understand (or care) what he\u2019s done. This bland, measured, completely unemotional statement\u2026 from a man who Tweets like a maniac in the wee hours of the morning over the slightest insult to his person (or hair). For white supremacy, he can reign in the crazy, apparently. He doesn\u2019t want to \u201crush into statements.\u201d And when he DOES make a statement, it\u2019s to\u00a0say \u201chey guys, that\u2019s bad. Stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basically.<\/p>\n

It was half-assed, it was insincere, but at least the words were the right ones. SO OF COURSE came\u00a0back today<\/a>\u2013after being shamed by David Duke<\/a>, former KKK Grand Poo-ba of whatever, for abandoning his loyal voter base\u2026 The President of the country that has railed against tyranny, in all its forms, for centuries, came back to the cameras today and said again that there are\u00a0many sides\u00a0<\/em>to blame. And then he coined the absurd term \u201calt-left\u201d to classify\u2026 I guess everyone who\u2019s not a white supremacist?<\/p>\n

Best as I can tell, that umbrella can cover anyone\u2013black people, Democrats, liberals, feminists, people who drive a Prius, probably your librarian, and anybody who has the word \u201c-ologist\u201d in their degree or job title. Alt-left is the new code for \u201cthem,\u201d \u201cnot us,\u201d \u201ctrouble makers\u201d and \u201creasonable sane people who do not want to live in the 50s again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, and then\u2026 I think he said something about how\u00a0NOT ALL WHITE SUPREMACISTS ARE BAD PEOPLE,\u00a0<\/em>geez guys, give them a break. They\u2019re just like you and me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Like most of you, I\u2019m horrified, but not surprised. This is where we are. This is who we\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

But maybe there\u2019s an unlikely takeaway here\u2013a truly profound teaching moment, the likes of which most of us have not witnessed in our lifetime.<\/p>\n

\"pexels-photo-261909\"<\/p>\n

Although I\u2019m certain it was not his intention, what Trump has actually given us these last few days is the mother of all civics lessons\u2013a living, breathing example of how systemic racism works. Just in time for back to school, he\u2019s offering a full-on clinic in how suppression of minorities becomes institutionalized\u2013so deeply engrained in our systems and our culture that, unless we are affected by it directly, it\u2019s easy to ignore. It\u2019s a history\u00a0teacher\u2019s dream; his words these last few days offer the perfect commentary on where we are, and how we got here.<\/p>\n

What he\u2019s showing us is\u00a0how institutionalized racism works. <\/em>It goes like this:\u00a0pretend that the anti-racist movement is causing<\/em> the problem. Blame racism on black people, and activists. Blame the first black president who, by his very presence in a place of power, stirred up white resentment that had gone underground for the past few decades. Still there, to be sure, but mostly removed from polite society.<\/p>\n

Next, you ask that we all just \u201cget along.\u201d You make pleas for unity; you talk a lot about\u00a0love, but you make it seem like love is something passive. Something that learns to take abuse with a smile, for the sake of a pleasant neighborhood. And when that doesn\u2019t work, maybe you buy a news outlet. You gather a circle of loyalists who only follow\u00a0YOUR news outlet. Who believe that all other sources are lies.<\/p>\n

And once you\u2019ve got a media machine in hand, you can create propaganda. You can say anything you want. So you say that\u00a0the people trying to change the system are the actual bad guys; that they are dangerous, and violent.<\/p>\n

You effectively create MORE\u00a0fear and mistrust of people of color, by insisting they are the ones keeping us from living in peace.<\/p>\n

And, repeat.<\/p>\n

As Professor Trump is showing us in real time\u2013these story-telling tactics worked marvelously during the Civil War. For years abolitionists and freed slaves were \u201ctrouble makers,\u201d \u201crabble rousers,\u201d and disruptors of the peace.<\/p>\n

It worked for Hitler in World War II Germany. It worked in America too, during the same war: exhibit A, Japanese Internment camps.<\/p>\n

It worked during the Civil Rights movement. Same story.<\/p>\n

And it seems to be working now.\u00a0Because clearly, we never learn. No matter how many times history tries to teach us. No matter how many unlikely teachers try\u00a0to remind us how this story ends.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I never (ever. ever) thought I would say this\u2013but the president taught us an important lesson today. 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