On Twitter there’s a flap going right now about whether the star of the new movie “Wonder Woman” is a Person of Color. The conversation is predictable.
On November 21, 2015, I wrote the following in Connecting the Dots, Part 3 (The rise of American Fascism):
I wouldn’t be here now if my ancestors hadn’t chosen to flee oppressive religious persecution at the turn of the last century. My great grandparents were not born in the US. They were lucky. They all arrived at a time when massive migration of refugees meant cheap labor. They all came through Ellis Island, settled in and around Brooklyn, and eventually added my grandparents to their families.
Americans couldn’t see the conditions that sent the Jews to the US from Germany, Poland, Russia and England. They had to take it on faith that conditions were terrible. Immigrants from Europe felt they had to find a better life in America. They couldn’t say “Look at the TV. Look at the Internet. My life is at risk if I stay here where I am.”
Based on skin tone, yes, she’s pale. She’s also Jewish. And that, by definition, makes her something other than white. You can’t use the term POC because it’s wrong, but so is the term white. Over six million people died in Eastern Europe because they were Jewish. (Others also died, but we’re not muddying the water here, so save that instant “But…” for another time.)
The hate is growing in the US. Trump has so far failed to acknowledge it. He isn’t going to address it, either, because it doesn’t serve his interests. Making America Great Again has nothing to do with protecting ALL Americans. It never did.
The Grand Old Party has become the Party of Racists, whether Republicans want to admit that or not. Token people of color who say they are Republicans will eventually figure out that they are only welcome as long as their presence serves the interests of the white Christians who push this agenda forward. That the party hasn’t split over Trump’s election is an indication that they are comfortable with the adoption of Tea Party rhetoric as long as it serves their lust for power.
I wrote an earlier post, dated March 15, 2013, immediately after the news broke of an unfortunate comment captured during the annual CPAC meeting that year. I titled the whole piece “They never had it so good. Wait. What?” and included the following:
We are still fighting the Civil War, 150 years later. And these (I will remind you) are the jerks fighting the absolute hardest to keep their weapons.
All the earmarks are there. The rise of American Fascism, the ruling class (see Michigan if you don’t believe me that this is happening), and the movement to take away the Democratic process.
I’m reasonably sure people thought I was crazy. I’m not. On the Media just came to the same conclusion I did four years ago.
This week’s episode, entitled Mind the Gap, explores our connections to the recent violence in Portland, Russian propaganda and more. I encourage you to listen to the whole show, but the showstopper here is in the first story, Something Is Emerging From This Community.
It’s not right to categorize the Portland killer (who shall go nameless here) as a Liberal. It’s a lie.
I said repeatedly that during the campaign, a population emerged who were anything but liberal. They supported&emdash;no, celebrated&emdash;Bernie as a hero because they were ANTI-HILLARY.
When Bernie lost, they wanted to burn the house down, but there is simply no telling how the election would have gone if he’d won because he is a Democratic socialist and a Jew.
They talk about the election in an apparent miasma of wistfulness. If only he’d won…
That’s bullshit.
Witness the rise of hate in this country. It’s no accident that these men were killed. It’s no accident that two nooses appeared this week at the Smithsonian Institution’s museums on the Mall in DC.
It’s American Fascism and it comes from 150 years of resentment over the Civil War.
Those nooses are only the latest in an unsubtle attempt to start a race war in this country.
Portland, LeBron, the Smithsonian nooses: America’s ugly week of hate
As long as our communities of color stay cool and rise above the attempts, we’re fine, but at what point will we hit the boiling point?
I predict a long, hot summer.