Advoken's Blog

It seems these days that no one is a racist, particularly President Trump.  Take his word for it: “I don’t have a racist bone in my body.” (Tweet on July 16, 2019)

How often have you heard a person proclaim, “I am not a racist”?  The phrase comes from people who soon will be talking about “those people” or burst out with a liberal supply of “thems.”  What such folks are clearly saying is that they are not like “them,” obviously referring to African-Americans or Hispanics or Asians or Middle-easterners, and obviously inferring that such others are inferior.

Nonetheless, I’m reluctant to brand someone as a “racist” based solely upon an occasional insensitive statement; it’s when such statements become that person’s standard vocabulary that you can call them by the “r” word.  Thus, I’m willing to overlook Joe Biden’s remark that he was able to deal with those notorious racist Senators, James Eastland and Strom Thurmond, in creating legislation in Congress.  His point was to show that in a democracy lawmakers have to work with “the enemy” every so often to get things done – that in passing laws Biden had to deal with Eastland and Thurmond, despite knowing full well that he disagreed not only with their racial policies, but with their anti-union and reactionary economic issues.

Like Trump, Biden declared not to have a “racist bone” in his body. (MSNBC News, June 23, 2019)  Unlike Trump, however, Biden’s recent record of supporting legislation and  policies that break down racism and seek to overcome economic inequities speaks for itself (even though early in his career he showed strong opposition to school busing that raised questions about his past record).

The truth is:  It is by one’s deeds that one’s racism shall be truly determined.

Trump’s deeds have clearly demonstrated a trend that will hardly move to heel the racial wounds of our nation.  His campaign began with a racial theme (Mexican immigrants are rapists, etc.) and have continued with repeated rabble-rousing against immigrants and more recently against “The Squad,” the four women Democratic representatives, urging them to go back to where the came from.  (It’s a particularly ironic message since all four are American citizens and three were born in this country.  Of course, they are all women of color and are outspoken progressives.)

His support of gutting the Affordable Care Act (which hurts largely working families of which minorities are major demographic) is emblematic of deeds that reek of racism.   So does his opposition to increasing the minimum wage, his immigration strategies, his two appointments to the Supreme Court, his anti-union administrative actions and much more.

Most dictionary definitions of racism say that it is “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” (Merriam-Webster)

By that definition, it is clear that many of us may indeed harbor such views deep within us, and likely they may have been formed in earlier, less-enlightened years or by family or neighborhood environments.  The question is how we seek to overlook those thoughts of superiority and to perform deeds that provide for building a society of equality, peace and harmony.

Sadly, when leaders such as our President act to stifle efforts to unify people of all races, colors and creeds, it is then they shall be labeled as “racists,” and properly so.

Yes, it is by their deeds they shall be known. – Ken Germanson, Aug. 3, 2019