Not Going Back To The Plantation
I have not spoken directly in opposition to the president, but Charlottesville was my turning point.
The lack of fitness of Mr. Trump for the presidency and for national leadership is now evident. There is an acute lack of understanding of the history of our country. Perhaps it is because of his gilded past, but I refuse to make excuses for him. A president must know…
There were not two groups of violent people clashing on the streets of Charlottesville; there was a clash of ideologies. Those who marched represent an ideology rooted in the old south where white supremacy ruled slaves on the plantation; what clashed was a Nazi ideology of a superior race demeaning others because of their skin color and religion joined with a willingness to put to death those not like them.
And what clashed with this ideology from the old south with its slave markets and Nazi Germany with its concentration camps? A group of people who say that this ideology of hate will not rise again. These were good people, angry people, fearful people who stood up and said NO. There should have been someone standing with them, speaking without hesitation that all people are created equal—the president—but he was absent, and, in fact, joined the group with their shields, clubs and helmets.
The president is my age, and yet he seems to have no memory of the pain and wounds of the civil rights movement. He cannot see beyond the clash of two groups of people and see with his mind that the clash is of ideas. One idea says one man is better than another, that the happenstance birth of a baby with skin pigmentation we call white makes him superior to another whose skin is black, brown, red or yellow. The other idea is written in one of our founding documents—“all men are created equal.”
We are learning that “equal men” include people of different religions, gender and lifestyle. It has taken us hundreds of years of struggle to make our discoveries of what is means to be made in God’s image and likeness, and we will not go back to the plantation.
Stand with us, Mr. President, even though you do not see this ideology of hate. Trust us, for we remember the pain of our fellow citizens not just in Charlottesville, but, also, in Birmingham and Montgomery. We can smell the burning flesh of Auschwitz. Know this—We will oppose hate until you realize you have become its instrument, and then together we will take another step forward in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.
Very well said Jim. This administration has been and is so alarming to me as a senior citizen and one living in HUD Housing.
I go from posting without control trying to cry out to others to wake up and then become embarrassed and delete them all.
Sadly, we are a capitalist nation were big money (the LOVE of money) rules
It has become evident that trump and his backers and co- workers cannot be stopped. The damage done thus far will take longer tha I will live to repair.
I am at a loss of what can be done. With the electoral voting system we really have little voice.
Disappointed and disillusioned.
I thank you for sharing as I have felt the same way. I have sat with my mouth open thinking if I hadn’t seen and heard it myself I wouldn’t believe it, And there is underlying icky sick feeling that there is much we still don’t know. I may be the only one but I don’t believe Trump is a legal sitting President, I think it was rigged. When I see, and listen to Trump it is unconceivable to me that he is anything but a hoax. And the Republican Party is in jeopardy because of Trump. What were they thinking?None of it makes any sense. The puzzle pieces don’t fit. I, too am very concerned for the people of the United States.
Thank you Jim, for speaking up. We are meant to be mystics and prophets and you are both.
Thank you.
We are all related.We must move forward not back. This is what mental illness looks like , impulsive and narcissistic.
Blessings
The bigotry, dishonesty and hatemongering of this president makes him a danger to us all. His behavior is,appalling. I do not believe in shaming but I do believe we need to call his behavior what it is and acknowledge that he is unfit to govern. In no way can we normalize his behavior. I can agree that underneath it all, he is a lost soul in need of redemption but we must recognize the danger and unite to protect our selves and most especially our country from his DANGEROUS leadership. My husband is reading Mein Kampf right now and chillingly as he shares pieces with me, it sounds like Trump. All of this Jim, is to say I this k as people of conscience, we need to speak more strongly against this man’s behavior as we stand against his behavior. .
So grateful for your stepping forward and clarity on this troubling situation. Being still is being complicit in the continuation of the age old hatred and fear of those falsely seen as different. Those of us that stand fast With the movement for equality recognize and acknowledge that the cost of hate and fear is the chaos, destruction and the violence we are again experiencing in our country today. Having elected officials who are ignorant of, untouched by or perhaps just uncaring of the horrors heaved upon entire races, creeds and religious communities because of perceived differences make these leaders unfit to hold any office. I do not stand with them but support their immediate removal before any more damage is done to our country.
Why is this man still in office with his ideas different than most Americans? God did not create us to fight inequality. He made us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Can this president not get it? Come on. We want to join in love.
IN 1941, I WAS A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL. BY THE TIME I GRADUATED IN 1943, TWO OF MY CLASSMATES HAD DIED ON THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY (JERRY PAUL AND JERRY STUTLER.) AND BY 1945, SEVERAL MORE OF MY GRADUATING CLASS HAD DIED IN WORLD WAR II.
ONE LONG SUPPRESSED DOCUMENTARY ABOUT DJT REVEALED THAT IN MILITARY SCHOOL HE HAD ONE BOOK ON HIS READING NIGHT STAND. IT WAS MEIN KAMPF. THERE IS LEGAL DOCUMENTATION THAT FRED TRUMP MARCHED WITH THE KKK IN THE LATE 1920’s.
MY 92 YEAR OLD HEART HURTS AND HURTS AND HURTS, DEEPLY, TO HAVE THIS MAN SITTING IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF WHEN WE DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO IT.
Thank you for these loving and sane words Jim. I’ve read you for years in Unity Magazine and was so happy to see your loving wisdom appear on Facebook.
HI Jerry, Thanks for your willingness to express your views on the blog. I’d like to have more people sharing, so the dialogue can continue. My quick thoughts in response to your post…1). No one endorses the violence. I certainly don’t. 2). Removing statues is not the real issue. You could remove every confederate statue in the country and it would not solve the problem because the problem is the ideology of white supremacy and all that relates to the horror of Nazi beliefs. Millions of people died in WW II because of Nazi beliefs. You can image what kind of feelings that evokes when people march and degrade Jews, etc. Millions died because of the Nazis and hundreds of people were enslaved because of the belief in white supremacy, so it is not surprising that people are going to stand up whenever these ideologies emerge in our society. You would expect the president to understand that the conflict is not statues or group violence. Much more is at stake. Many Blessings, Jim
I agree that these Nazi’s and supremacists rightly stir a lot of negative emotions in a lot of good people and that is unfortunate. I also understand why many people want to stand up against that. I’m just not for meeting those people with force in the streets. I know you aren’t either.
Still, the more I think about the “blame on all sides” comment from Trump, the more I think he was right. Still I do see why people were upset that Trump didn’t just call out the Alt right, but I don’t think that would have been the right thing to do.
On Tuesday night there were another round of protests in Arizona. If we only called out one side in the violence would that embolden the other side that their violence was somehow justified? Is it possible that by calling out the antifa he actually helped keep the peace? We can’t be sure but it is pretty scary to imagine a violent group that feels they are justified in their attacks.
Anyway, godbless Jim. I love the new project!
This topic really got me thinking and since I’m clearly in the minority I decided to actually post this. Jim I am not trying to direct every word at you’re article just my thoughts after reading your piece which was very thought provoking.
I agree with your characterizations of the alt right, Nazi’s and white supremacists but I also saw a man getting physically attacked for exercising his free speech in the aftermath. The man happened to be a leader of the alt right but to me that doesn’t matter. The fact is the people you characterize as “good people, angry people who stood up and said no.” , some of those people also threw rocks, punches and ugly words.
I disagree with the notion that this conflict represented some sort of battle between the clearly good and the clearly evil. I suppose a lot of how you view the radical left depends on your politics and I can appreciate that but I hope we can all agree that there was a conflict, clash, battle, whatever you’d like to call it. It was not a bunch of hippies handing out flowers and hugs to the misguided bigots. It was a bunch of angry people having a conflict with another group of angry people.
I think it’s comfortable to blame everything on the side we find the ugliest but I’ve attended many a Sunday lesson based on how Unitics don’t meet hate with hate. Just because you agree with the message doesn’t mean you have to join in or condone the violence. I think Trump was right to call out both sides and although I think it may be coincidental and not because Trump is some kind of spiritual guy, for me it’s the path that the Universe tells me is closest to the source.
I’m looking at that white supremacist leader running from the mob the day after and I feel bad for the guy. That was violent yet it’s been largely condoned because the people mostly agree that this person is somehow less than a person, which is ironic.
lastly, the anti mob are the same people trying to remove all the confederate monuments so whether you agree or disagree with that I hope you can understand that there IS some possible reason why you might get punched in the face by one of these “good guys” even if you aren’t a hateful bigot and are just afraid the PC police are trying to rewrite history a la 1984. “We have always been at war with East Asia!” Sorry to go all Orwell on you. History is important and these guys want to blast the monuments off the face of stone mountain GA. Sounds a little like something the Taliban did to me.
I am against all authoritarians and voted for Gary Johnson. I am NOT a Trump supporter except for I guess in this situation.
Monuments ought to be blasted off the face of the Mountain. Have you forgotten your history lesson? This is Native American terrority. We took their land, way of life and attempted to anniliate them, literally. Mountains aren’t a place for Monuments they are scars on the mountain side AND in plain sight of thousands of Native Americans. Monuments in parks to people who attempted to destroy America in it’s infancy and are a slap in the face to every black person who has to look at them.e. These monuments were built to what today we would call Terroists. Jim, I know you won’t post this but felt the need to speak out. We must all turn to God now, He is our refuge and strength there is no Political party, Politician, or Government that’s going to save us, or can save us. For Trump to be allowed to sit in our White House, that alone tells the story of what our country has come to. This is the end of our country as we knew it. I never realized, until now,the depth and degree of corruption in our Government and the lack of integrity. I have watched as Politicians Stand by with their hands in their pockets,SILENT, while a tyrant destroys the rule of law and order in our Governmnet.
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I’ll see if I can find it. Thanks, Jim.