Racism Isn’t a Policy Position, it’s a Serious Character Flaw

Donald Trump is not the first openly racist president in our nation’s history.

The United States has previously been led by presidents who were avowed white supremacists, who openly opposed and worked to dismantle civil rights, who praised the Ku Klux Klan and re-segregated the federal government, and who owned enslaved people.

While there are mitigating factors, including historical periods in which some of these men governed, it should always be noted that their presidencies are, and should remain, historically tainted by this stain. This is not a footnote. It is a fundamental character flaw that should be disqualifying. Racism is incompatible with the responsibility of serving as the nation’s highest elected leader because it is proof that you do not believe in, respect, or intend to serve all of the people you are charged with leading.

Trump’s racism is neither new nor ambiguous. He was cited by the federal government in the 1970s for discriminating against Black tenants in his housing developments, and his decades-long pattern of comments about non-white communities and cultures is well documented. This latest social media post depicting the Obama’s as apes, is simply further proof of his flawed and dangerous character. He is a terrible human being…a liar, a cheater, and a convicted sex offender, among so many other things. These are not politically motivated accusations; they are historical facts.

That said, simply supporting Trump does not automatically make someone a racist. For me, that word carries far too much weight to be casually applied through guilt by association. Many people I know who support him are not racist; they are willing to overlook this profound flaw because they believe in other aspects of his agenda. While I strongly disagree with them, and am personally hurt by their willingness to excuse it, I cannot in good conscience label them as racists for that choice alone.

We are living in the most dangerous time of my life. I weep for those who, like me, have a skin color that, in the small minds of Trump and his sycophants, makes us less American than they believe themselves to be.

I weep and worry for those who came to this country because we once proudly proclaimed, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” I believe in lawful immigration and in a system that requires accountability, but there is a right way to address those who are here unlawfully. Trump’s way is not it. More troubling still, it represents a deliberate abandonment of what used to be the American way.

I continue to wonder when people will finally recognize that they have been conned into placing their faith in a deeply broken man whose only real vision of “strength” is a nation defined by whiteness and wealth, with everyone else relegated to the margins where he believes they belong. That is not strength. It is fear masquerading as power…and it is unworthy of this country.

And when his supporters awake today, to Trump’s latest musing about one of his predecessors, they will inevitably fall back on the tired, dishonest refrain that Barack Obama was somehow “the most divisive president in our nation’s history.”

They will offer no facts. No evidence. No record to support the claim.

Because none exists.

So, if you believe that Obama was racist against white people, or against rich people, or frankly against any group of Americans, now is the moment to prove it. Produce the evidence. Show the policies, the words, the actions.

And if you cannot, and you won’t…do us all a favor: sit down and shut up.

Because empty grievance is not truth, repetition is not proof, and shouting lies does not make them real. History will remember who governed with dignity, and who tried to tear the country apart because they could not lead it.