RAGE – Life Doesn’t End at Birth

Listen, would you give a homeless person a string bikini in the dead of winter and expect them to be grateful to you for what you’ve done for them?

Yesterday, while pressure washing my driveway, I finished listening to RAGE.

The book wraps up with a more in-depth look at the coronavirus response. I haven’t focused on that, but it’s very concerning. 

Individuals are finding the courage to corroborate reports about the mishandling of one of the most devastating events that may occur during our lifetime. Trump has presented an alternate reality to the American people and it’s up to them to believe it or seek the truth.

Donald Trump presents a different truth to his base, but he admitted to Bob Woodward in an interview that he knows there is systemic racism in America. He also admitted he doesn’t feel a responsibility AT ALL to have a better understanding of the pain of Black America.

Here’s my personal translation of these statements: Trump really does NOT care about people of color for we do not matter to him.

Trump went on to say he’s done more for Black America than any President in history. No…he hasn’t.

Yes, before COVID-19, employment was high for people of color. What he doesn’t grasp is we are intelligent enough to realize that upward trajectory started with Obama’s Administration.

Yes, Trump has funded historical black colleges. And? He should. So did Obama’s Administration.

We are smart people. We know Trump didn’t turn the economy around when he took office, it was already improving, and Obama’s Administration left him a stable upward escalator ride.

Do I even need to mention his assault on health insurance, or Obama’s initiatives he expanded and called his own?

Trump seems to be genuinely baffled that he doesn’t have the support of most people of color. That bafflement itself shows there’s a very fundamental disconnect.

He admitted there’s systemic racism, yet he takes actions that lead to intensification rather than de-escalation.

Instead of empathizing and listening, he dismisses, disparages, and dehumanizes.

The police reforms he offered are not focused on the concerns of people of color, they are proposals that will cause police the least amount of discomfort. Unless he genuinely acknowledges the issues and engages in sincere dialog with the affected people, it’s impossible for him to create effective and meaningful reforms.      

Trump has had many opportunities to give people of color what they really need. He’s had the power and authority to remove the knee from our necks, but he’s chosen not to do so.

He says he’s pro-life, then he should BE pro-life for EVERY American for life doesn’t end at birth.