Get Back in the Closet

    You can venture back to when the Europeans came here and ravaged the Native Americans into submission, taking over their land. You can journey to a small town called Point Comfort back in 1619. Maybe you’d like the starting point to be when a portion of this nation seceded from the union in the name of state’s rights, aka, slavery. Do you prefer history a bit more recent? How about Jim Crow? The bombing of three little black girls in a church and black families having crosses burned on their lawns by white hood wearing, horseback riding or pickup truck driving, white men. Emmett Till, Wells Fargo discriminatory practices, red lining, Tamir Rice, Sean Bell, George Floyd…. you tell me what time in history you’d like to begin with and I’ll apprise you of which racist practice was the flavor of the moment in this country. America has Always been racist.

    But there was a time not long ago when a healthy amount of shame came with being a racist. That shame has progressively eroded with the rhetoric, campaign, and eventual election of Donald J. Trump. There’s a debate on if our 45^th President is racist or not. That doesn’t interest me and to an extent, doesn’t really matter that much. Whether he is or isn’t, what matters is racists believe he is and they have found great comfort in his administration. We’re hearing comments by elected officials, city police officers, and many of our own co-workers speak openly with commentary that once could only be found in the shadows of the comment section on an internet post. Now they brazenly post for the world to see.

    Remember when elitism was one of the so-called reasons red America, blue collar America, and middle America hated liberals? They didn’t measure up to their traditional values. Enter a rich, New York City, three times married politician with a history of no use for any of those values. Why in the world would right wing, rural America embrace an individual that’s counter to everything they believe in? Forty-five is everything they told us for years they hated about the democratic party, progressives, and left coast America. Yet they embrace him. During Obama’s presidency, he began speaking their language and the unfortunate coincidence is many of their views and opinions are often shared and agreed upon by racists. Trump has played this tune finely and bigots have marched to his Make America Great Again band. The days of saving their thoughts for family Thanksgiving gatherings and other safe havens are no longer a burden for them. A lot of us already knew elitism and nontraditional values were never the real issue for them. The issue has always been that people of color need to be kept in their place at all times. Trump promises them that. He’s the law and order president that promises to never let those people live near their suburban neighborhoods again. He refers to certain places as shit hole countries. He declares Black Lives Matter a hate group and calls peacefully protesting NFL players sons of bitches while dressing it up as protecting the sanctity of our flag, (keep in mind there is video of him clowning around and paying zero attention to the national anthem or the flag). 

Since the murder of George Floyd, public opinion of Black Lives Matter and its movement have never been more popular. With that popularity comes louder and bolder verbiage from opposition to the movement with open displays of hatred, ignorance, and bigotry. The shame is virtually nonexistent. This is the leader they have always wanted when they screamed, “I want my country back”, in years past. President Obama killed the man responsible for the worst terrorist attack in the history of America. He attempted to give every single American access to healthcare. He brought down a double-digit unemployment rate he inherited in January of 2009. Yet he is considered far less American when compared to a man that has scammed, defrauded, and literally refused to pay Americans for work they completed. He gets his products made in China instead of the star-spangled land and has seemingly cared more about his rallies and reelection efforts than a deadly virus that has killed nearly 150,000 Americans with a projected 200,000 deaths by November. 

    He has opened the closet door and one by one, racists have exited with zeal and boisterous swag. When challenged, they can cite Candace Owens, Jason Whitlock, Sherriff Clarke, or Terry Crews. They may be racist, but black faces championing their greater good is acceptable. Those type of black people know their place and we’re of no threat when we know our place. Many black people prefer racists to be open about it. “Let me know so I don’t have to guess how you really feel”, is the usual stance I hear regarding this. I get that. But the shame is what helps enforce laws. Shame is what possibly could have prevented a Trump presidency in the first place. There’s a chance shame could have saved George Floyd’s life. It’s not wildly inconceivable that part of what officer Chauvin was thinking, as he comfortably kneeled on another man’s neck was, “Hey I’m fine. The leader of this country precisely instructed us not to be gentle with them”.

    We need to shove them back into the closet where they belong and bring back the shame that should come with racism. A congressman should not be able to yell at a President, “You lie,” during a joint session of Congress and get record breaking donations to his reelection campaign the following day. Having their country back is a contentious place for minorities. I’m of no illusion that closeted racism equals less racism and I admit there are some advantages to it being overt versus it being covert. But if the once glaring shame that came with racism continues to dim like it has the last 12 years, we stand to lose the very minimal progress we’ve made in this country.