Over a hundred days. At least 142 executive orders. Over 1,500 pardons. And a painfully cruel mirror of what American white privilege gone wild manifests.
Donald Trump is not a lone wolf tyrant. He is the reflection of the oppression this country has been built upon. As we celebrate the romanticized 250th anniversary of the battles of Concord and Lexington — the start of the Revolutionary War, the obliteration of Indigenous sovereignty — we need an honest and radical American revolution.
On repeat, we continually sacrifice the humanity of others for more power, more privilege, more wealth, and we do so under the guise of American liberty, of justice, of freedom. None of these things have ever been readily accessible to all Americans. Not once. There has always been a sacrifice of humanity and personhood to exalt this country to its empty greatness. Slavery and slaughter so that a select few can reign as they feign sympathy and make democracy a performance that progresses just enough to placate the masses.
Is this the greatness we’re set to return to? Did we ever truly depart from it, or have we always been bartering our souls and liberties to prop up institutional power?
This administration is tainting something as righteous and pure as the fight against antisemitism by simultaneously dismantling protections for every other marginalized identity. It is this type of selective justice and gatekept safety that creates the dangerous division that is falsely blamed on diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI has benefited white women more than people of color. Look at executive leadership boards and C-suites. Men still outnumber women but where we see the biggest gains, it’s with white women. Welfare programs helped grow the white middle class, not folks of color. Who benefited from the Homestead Act and the discriminatory practices of FHA loans/VA programs? It was not Black people and people of color.
We’re using citizenship, education, art, and freedom of speech as weapons against people. Should you speak out in the name of liberty and revolution, the very thing we’re set to celebrate right now, you could lose your scholarship, your job, your funding, your very right to be in this nation. That is not living in freedom, that is living in fear and tyranny.
There is an American practice of putting self over society, privilege over people, power over peace. So long as we, the individuals, are gaining money and privilege, never matter the pain of others. Because so long as we can otherize people, we can uplift exceptionalism as practice.
We have adapted a culture that believes equity and inclusion take away from our progress. We’d rather hoard our privilege than admit we have it so that everyone can have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Of course Donald Trump is our president and this is our first 100 days. Look back at the American Revolution and our very American ways.
When we call for justice this time, we have to try to get the fight right. We can’t stop the second we, the individuals, are comfortable. We have to fight for everyone. Principle over party. People over power. A new American Revolution – building a country unfit to be led by a criminal like Donald Trump.
This originated in A Beautiful Newsletter, expanding the community of “A Beautiful Resistance,’’ created by columnist Jeneé Osterheldt to carry on the tradition of Black artists and Black journalists in reclaiming the truth of Black folk.
