MAWA: Make America White Again?
No thanks. (Watch the blue line links, please)
I am proud to be an American but I’m unhappy and unhinged with some of the things happening. The speech from ‘Newsroom’ pretty much sums up my views.
I do not identify myself as a White American. My color does not define me, though it does give me perspectives, people of a different race don’t encounter. I have never been refused service, a job, a home, or a business opportunity being white. I HAVE encountered some disgusting views for being an American and a Jew.
Sinatra’s’ video ‘The House I Live In’ was quite an impactful film, which, except for the word of the use ‘Jap’, talks of an America we have drifted away from. Years later, the writer of this film, Albert Maltz, a Jew, would be labeled a Communist, blacklisted and have his career ruined.
I don’t use the word ‘tolerance’ when talking about people. We ‘tolerate’ noise, bad service, and long waits but the correct word is acceptance and encouragement of people.
Yes, I have told a bad joke in my life and I’m not proud of it. Fortunately, I have outgrown that.
But this nationalistic/nativist mindset is what’s destroying some pretty important stuff.
Afrikaners were granted visas this week, above all others, and in record time. These were the white people who created apartheid, annihilated millions, and denigrated tribes and people they saw as ‘inferior.’
But now, the President is pushing this White Lives Matter Over All Others. Look at people displaced by natural disasters who are being forced to leave our country. Those who legally immigrated are at risk. Simply, because they are not the preferred ‘color.’
I’m no Pollyanna. This has always been a ‘white’ nation and every other race, faith, culture has been marginalized. I have no illusions about an undercurrent of hate that has prevailed for over 250 years but it has never been so evident now, as it was during the 1800s, the 1930s, and the 1960s.
Phillips Roth's book and screen adaptation of ‘The Plot Against America’ was prescient when it was written and seems frighteningly more real today.
I have friends who say: you have to respect our President.
But.. I do not respect him.
I respected both Bushes..I voted for McCain. I supported Jeff Flake.
This guy is dangerous, vapid, and self-absorbed to achieve his own ends.
There was a time when strangers were welcomed here.
Make America great again? Sure. Make America healthy again? Absolutely.
But there is a way to do that, the American Way. We all know what that is.
But many, do not.
sharing an email from a friend regarding this column.
"1972, my mother, stepfather, and I were moving from the Bronx to Phoenix. We took a two-week cross-country trip to Phoenix. A fantastic trip. I will never forget Alabama. The first billboard we saw was Welcome to Alabama. The second billboard said, "Welcome to Alabama, this is George Wallace Country". Shortly after we stopped in a small town to get lunch. To this day I can still see exactly what happened. We sat in a booth in a small restaurant, my mother and stepfather sat opposite of me and then the fun began. My mother, who was wearing a Star of David, proceeded to order something, the two waitresses and the cook were standing behind me when they told my mother they were out of what she wanted. She proceeded to order another thing and they said they were out. My mother attempted to order a third meal when my stepfather said, "I understand what is happening", and we got up and left. I can still see them laughing while this took place. When we got to our car there was a sheriff's deputy standing by our car. As a 14 year old I didn't quite understand what had happened, but it was quickly explained to me. I haven't been back to Alabama since.
Race is a construct that came out of the African slave trade. It wasn't an identifier until that time. I identify as Ashkenazi, not white although my skin has a certain tone to it. I have been rejected in various ways due to my Jewishness, e.g. having my Chanukia hidden in the dorm because a suite mate thought it took away from her holiday experience and only Christmas decorations were appropriate in December. Or the time when I was reprimanded by a boss who said I had no right to call out a student at a college where I worked because he insisted in front of his friends in a hallway to speak about the cheap Jews. I have other examples too. The tone in this country today is one that is scary and doesn't bring out the best in people. I hope that we can get past this time in history for better days ahead. Thanks again for your eloquence at voicing the concerns that millions of us feel.