by Marceline Donaldson
I know those who know me knew this was coming. And I am sure you knew I would gloat! Finally – a mixed race person at the top where we should be. That said, and you see that I can be as bigoted as anyone else – lets get serious!
Watching the coverage of the royal wedding at 3am in the morning and watching it until 10am was like over gouging on chocolate cake.
It was a breath of fresh air in a world sorely in need of such.
I saw England moving away from a “blue blood” state, becoming a part of the creation of a very diverse world which recognizes its differences and holds them “in love” – as Bishop Curry would say. I can say that even after watching the jaws drop and the bemused look on some of England’s “royalty” as Bishop Curry’s sermon and his style took hold of those present and those watching via television.
After seeing and feeling Meghan Markle and Henry Windsor’s coming together produce a really remarkable outpouring of love and produce a new thing – accepted at the highest levels of the English government through its English royalty – the feelings I had stayed with me long after the formal part of the wedding ended. To know this is who would be the “Royals” at the top of the Commonwealth made me want to be a part of that group, that environment, that world.
From what I know and have experienced as a mixed race person and having met many such people over time, the one thing we share is the fact that we don’t have or belong to a “group”. The kind of “group” basic to this world. Are you black? white? Asian? NO? Then who is your group? What is your identity and how do you get that feeling of belonging!
I remembered back to when I was excused from jury duty because I refused to fill out a form following what society dictated I should say and filled it out with the truth of who I am. The form was about race. Supposed to be an illegal thing, but to be filled out during those days and probably still today under the guise of being “research” to make sure jurors were representative – of what? Certainly not the human race – but they wanted to know who you were under the false construct we have devised to create this “better than” or “less than” existence.
The form said something like – White, African American, Asian, Native American, etc. I filled in “other” and then listed the fictional “races” which supposedly contributed to my genetic makeup. The judge asked me to refill in a form and offered a blank form for me to re-fill it “correctly” and I said I had already done that and after a few minutes I was excused.
That was only one small example. Try a lifetime of such and then have children who are also mixed race and watch what they go through, which turns out to be worse, and then watch this “Royal Wedding.”
Meghan Markle has done an extraordinary job of walking across the water finding the submerged boulders to step across on so she could cross the ocean without drowning. And along with Prince Harry has found a place and a way to now share that experience. Her wedding was neither White nor Black; English nor American; and on and on you could go. It held up the culture and religious practices and symbols of all beautifully.
And then I had to come back to earth and deal with the reality of my American life currently under President Donald Trump.
The “Royal Wedding” showed us what could be – Trump shows us what is and in Trump’s world the lies, distortions, bigotry via the nazi influence and all the rest was all over television following the Royal Wedding doing its worse. It was almost as if his “spirits”, his “evil spirits” were working hard to blot out what we had just seen to keep us within their grasp.
It is time for Americans to deal with the truth. We live in a country which is and has been in a constant struggle against its own history and with this Donald Trump episode we are losing that struggle.
I came back to reality with the shooting – yet another school shooting, this time in Texas. A shooting in which the media covered everything except the fact that we need to look at this history and see the acceleration of such and lay the blame at the feet of our current president as the latest incarnation of those who would keep America in such a state for their own reasons – which are generally greed; self-aggrandizement; money; power and control.
Why do I lay the blame for the school shootings at Trump’s feet?
This has been a long time coming. For some seven plus years Donald J. Trump has been the center of tearing down these United States – big time. He generated one lie after another and the biggest was all the time and energy he spent spewing garbage – which he continues to do. His biggest load was to spend those seven years tearing down the United States by combining with its filthiest elements and proclaiming to the world his claim that Barack Obama was not a legitimate president and therefore everything he does is illegitimate because he was lying about having been born in these United States. According to Trump, Obama was actually born in Africa. And along with that were the pictures of Barack and Michelle Obama in various dress and forms – a gorilla; exaggerated African dress and attributes and more. Trump keeps those images and those lies in front of the American people by moving ahead strongly with his campaign to remove everything the Obamas have done so he can wipe out any and all acts of the government of an African American President of these United States. Those lies and that kind of way of acting and being have been a consistency in the Trump administration and in Trump’s life from its beginnings – yes, from his birth. Trump’s bigotry is not new. His lies and attempts to bring in a Nazi regime is not new. He has been laying the ground work for this for decades. We have just refused to take that evil seriously. We have passed it off as “posturing” and with other excuses because some of us need a Trump in this country to maintain its bigotry so we can keep our hands clean and still maintain the “better than” benefits we get from such evil. We can maintain the white males privileges at the expense of everyone else without having to roll up our sleeves to accomplish such. We can maintain we are not bigots like Trump and quietly support his efforts under the cover of many things.
We know the history and bigotry practiced in these United States. It is impossible not to know as we look around at our currently segregated schools; our neighborhoods which many realtors and others keep segregated; our social, golf, and other clubs places we can go and not have to deal with those “less than” – where we can deal with”our own kind”. And we know and have known about Trump and his extreme bigotry because he made sure his vile and racist rants were as public as possible.
And what happened to him? He was elected President of these United States! And now he is being given the benefit of the rule of law in these United States which he is currently and massively trying to deny to others who don’t fit into his scheme of a Nazi like takeover with Trump as Adolph only his emphasis is on money and becoming the wealthiest and most powerful man in the country.
It is time to turn that rule of law with a huge spotlight onto Donald J. Trump. He has committed many crimes – the latest being his call for the DOJ and others to “investigate”. All over the front pages of this mornings papers. What is the truth? His son – Donald Trump, Jr. is being called into question because of meetings he had which look as though he was selling the United States Presidency to foreign countries. Bringing them in to help get his father elected president. The timing of this call to investigate by Donald Trump, Sr. – making headlines and a serious call to a very serious investigation via a “tweet” demand every citizen, every group of lawmakers and law enforcers, every citizen of this country, especially when such a “tweet” is taken seriously enough to make the front page of the leading newspapers and much less coverage given to the real issue – what was Donald Trump, Jr. doing in the meetings he called during his father’s campaign which look clearly as though they are to manipulate the campaign to turn in results other than those the voters chose. An illegitimate president should be the headlines. This man and all of his appointed administration need to be removed immediately.
The increase in the school shootings can be directly laid at this incarnation of Donald J. Trump’s feet. And at the feet of his immediate family – who all together are trying to bring about the same result. Lying about bring jobs back to America when their companies outsource their jobs to other countries because they can get the citizens of those countries to work for slave wages instead of paying the kind of living wages they would have to pay if, for example, Ivanka Trump’s company had to bring its jobs on shore from Bangladesh and other countries struggling to get a foot hold in this world’s economy.
From the Royal Wedding with its dream of a wonderfully diverse world to America and Donald Trump with his dream of bringing about a world where the rule of law is destroyed in favor of the rule of Trump and his Associates – with families forcibly destroyed; people jailed without cause; lies told to the American public constantly and vicious lies at that; monies taken from other countries to fatten the pocket book of the Trumps; tearing down “immigrants’ but getting your message of extreme bigotry at all costs out into the public by appearing with an immigrant wife and not the first immigrant wife who is ‘different’. And of what is that difference composed – the color of her skin and the country from which she comes? Messages sent and received. Not all “immigrants” are bad – judge them by the color of their skin not the content of their character.
How are the law enforcers in this country responding to the visage of Rudi Giuliani? Once held up as their hero? What do you think of your hero today – with his character, honor, values exposed for all to see – out from under the cover of pretense?
We need to go back over the history of these United States and how did we get here. Maybe that will help give us a map for getting out of this mess and moving into a world where diversity is accepted, equality is the rule and we see each other as human beings.
Let’s start with today and move back into our history!
We have the reincarnation of a group headed by Donald Trump and finally supported in the extreme with his entire future on the line by Rudi Giuliani. Donald Trump equals Senator Joe McCarthy. Rudi Giuliani equals Attorney Roy Cohn. Does that group’s history and from whence it has come begin to materialize? They almost destroyed this country. They did destroy the lives of many of its citizens with the Congressional hearings seeking, at that time in history, “Communists”. It is interesting to look at who they considered and really went after.
Lets move back in time. There are so many places to stop and relook and relearn.
Lets go back to who built the railroads in these United States. Maybe the Chinese government wants to forget – but the people who were attacked and who lived horribly oppressed lives in these United States were the Chinese Americans and the Chinese immigrants. Remember that time?
And lets take a look at the Japanese. Remember what we did to American citizens because they were of Japanese descent? We gathered them up into concentration camps and took away their property and all of what they and their families had acquired of the “American Dream”. Recently, we passed laws in Congress for “reparations” to the Japanese, but we also had the parallel quiet program of foot dragging so much of the money would not be dispersed, but would be kept because we needed to foot drag until the Japanese who qualified for these reparations were dead and we could keep the money and continue those kind of actions.
Lets go back to another time, which directly involved Donald Trump and his family. To the time when the KKK was rampant – lynchings were happening across the country and remember when the KKK marched in all of its white robes and pointy hats down Pennsylvania Avenue some tens of thousands of them – apparently also including Donald Trump’s father who was arrested during that demonstration. In the 1930’s was it?
So Trump and his Nazi – racist – bigotry – was acquired naturally. It was passed on through time through his family history. His immigrant family history of just a generation – back to his grandfather who immigrated to this country with no money, no education and no ability to speak the language. And what did he do? Eventually built a hotel which was rumored to be a brothel! The beginnings of the Trump family fortune and its foundational history. Is that why he has so many women accusing his of sexual abuse; assault and so much more. Just to look at his administration it is clear his core life is about sexual discrimination – women have but one use and it is not to be a part of the Trump Administration in any other than a symbolic appearance.
Lets keep that history up front and high up so we can be reminded of where our present administration comes from and understand from that history where they are going.
Lets go back even further – when this country, finally after a few hundred years “freed” its African slaves. There was slavery in the world before that, but it was the United States during the time of establishing this African slavery that turned slaves into a group based on the color of their skin.
“Reconstruction” came after slavery and Reconstruction was killed by this same group which is now on this earth in the form of Donald Trump and his followers. I had ancestors elected to public office in the Deep South during Reconstruction – put on the railroad tracks after being tarred and feathered and forced to walk away.
Reconstruction was killed and turned into “Jim Crow” to maintain a “less than” and ” better than” group. Kill the inclination to any form of equality taking hold in these United States. And it was a very effective killing which ruined many lives. Tactics others would not try nor emulate because of things like honor, character, truth, love, God. God of love not the god of the evangelical christians who have combined with Trump to bring about hell on earth.
And, I don’t need to go back into the years of African slavery – but if you look at that history you will find Donald Trump’s spirit all through it.
And then there is the movement to free women. Africans in this country were enslaved using the marriage laws and that was very effective. It is just tragic that when those marriage laws were failing and were losing their strength that the gay community came along to fight to keep such laws by demanding they be included in that enslavement which women suffered under so many generations.
And let us not forget things like the “Trail of Tears” and other such horrors inflicted on the Native Americans – those who, in many cases, welcomed and helped the Northern Europeans seeking refuge in this country from the horrible ways they had been treated in their old countries from which they were fleeing. In those treatment you will also find Donald Trump’s spirit and it is still flying around that community as you look at the current Donald Trump’s stances and actions against that Native American community.
Todays Donald Trump has shown what he thinks of women and what their place should be. His administration is an example of the America we have all fought very hard to change. It is an administration of white males and white male top corporate people who are bleeding America dry for their own self-aggrandizement and to accumulate wealth beyond their needs and beyond their legal rights. Trump has been busy working with them to expand those “legal” rights so they can take away from others to put into their own pockets whether earned or not billions that we see clearly are far from earned. We are now in the position for creating billionaires and at the same time and for the same reasons ever increasing numbers of homeless peoples because of that greed – which today starts at the top. GREED is what most characterizes this Trump administration. Women are simply a distraction to be used when the sick male ego needs shoring up – as Trump’s has and Bill Cosby’s has and Weinstein’s has and many even before all of them..
As you read this – hold it up against truth; hold it up against your life and where you stand in all of this; hold it up against God’s love following Michael Curry’s iteration of that; and hold it up against your family. How do you come out? Are you holding your head down and hiding in the hopes that this too shall pass and you will be none the worse for it having erupted at this time in your life? Are you actively promoting and helping all of this garbage to succeed, multiply and be spewn across the boulevards, streets, roads and corners of America because you hope to one day be one of these obscene people? Are you actively working to bring about the America we have promised each other for generations? Let truth rumble around your heart and mind as you consider these things and then act accordingly.
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A Current Example of Bullying – Trump and Macron!
Thursday, April 26th, 2018Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron are back in France and have left the American public with lots to talk about and even more to think through.
President Trump has a way of bullying those who arrive as “important guests” both domestic and foreign from the moment he holds out his hand to shake theirs. The only person on whom he did not use this bullying handshake was Vladimir Putin. Trump has a bullying handshake where he makes the person on the other side wince as he pulls their arm and then the rest of their body towards him with one of the most bullying handshakes I have ever seen.
Emmanuel Macron was no exception. Macron, however, has made it his mission not be bullied by this handshake nor to be passive in an attitude of acceptance with a “this too shall pass” sub-text. He has taken on Trump’s handshake and given back which, during this visit, resulted in an amazing display.
The media and many others took it as a “bromance”. To say they missed the point is to say they exist in a society which accepts and does its best to ignore and deny sexual abuse in its many forms. That is exactly what we saw Emmanuel Macron put through during his trip to these United States.
President Macron, however, gave the country an exquisite example of how to handle such a bullying. Bullying of all kind will be with us forever if we don’t start calling it what it is when we see someone being bullied instead of finding other ways to describe what we know is an act of unashamed bullying. That could have been an example of a woman being abused and I think the media would have talked about a budding romance instead of stepping in to stop the atrocity – which is what we saw acted out before the world.
Trump’s initial handshake was returned in kind and Trump’s bullying was on high display as he responded to the need to push Macron down to puff himself up – in front of the world. I hope others have the guts and insight to come forward to condemn the display President Trump put on as his ego kept pushing him to uglier heights. Not even children would have participated in that dandruff act.
Not to be deterred by how ugly he was appearing to all, Mr. Trump continued trying to oppress and subjugate President Macron and Macron’s response should be in a book on bullying as one person’s way of brilliantly handling an extremely distressful and continuous almost non-stop display of oppression and bullying. Instead of seeing and commenting on what was actually happening, the media continued to claim – “they must like each other.”
Beginning with the handshake, Trump practically bowled Macron over as he tried to pull him towards himself. Macron responded by maintaining and giving back to Trump what he got from the handshake and responding and making it about the ‘French Kiss” by putting his arm around Trump and kissing him on both cheeks. Since it seems possible that Trump goes both ways, President Macron’s attempts didn’t land the way he intended.
and on and on it went.
Clearly, Macron’s response – his coup de grace – was put forward during his speech to the American Congress during which Macron laid out his policies and ideas including almost all of Trump’s policy stances and the beliefs Trump has made a part of his ‘reign’ as president. President Emmanuel Macron’s stances were totally opposite to Donald Trump’s. In giving that speech, President Macron did not wince, pull back, chance his beliefs, etc. He was forthright, forthcoming and clear and he had the American Congress with him – showing where they really stood when any possible attempts at blackmail, bullying, pushing were removed and one could respond as one felt.
Clearly, Melanie Trump showed she was truly the wife and soul mate of Donald Trump when she appeared in the white suit with hat which at one point moved Brigitte Macron out of the picture. When she appeared with “the Don” it was clear the arrogance and posturing of one was totally acceptable and generated pride in the other. They appeared in a strong statement which looked totally out of place for the company, the situation, the reflection of herself as hostess. She was clearly uncaring about Brigitte Macron and was only out to outshine and put forth her worth – which she apparently holds as her body and what she puts on it. The sexist male – the misogynist male has a female counterpart whose chief value is invested in how she looks. It was an outsized look and had a very hard edge which did not show as the hostess, but as the guest attempting to outshine all the other guests.
In his speech to Congress, President Macron came across as human, compassionate and seriously working to make this a better world for the least of these. His wife, Brigitte, looked like a caring, compassionate and serious person who was working with her husband and while her dress was quite elegant, it was also very human. She was not trying to outshine, outdo, send out an image to puff herself up or any of that. She was dressed in a lovely “human’ way. The contrast was astounding.
As I looked at all of that my mind brought me back to Barbara Bush’s funeral and life. Her funeral, for me, was a brief moment of public respite. At the end, she gave us a time to reflect, to think, to move away from the upheaval – panic – intensity of nothingness – the passionate hiding of something unsavory. There was no name calling; no trying to upstage and outshine; no arrogance; no posturing; just people coming to witness to the life of someone they knew either as a close friend or in her capacity as mother, wife, First Lady, volunteer, helper to those in need, etc. Somehow, I could not see Melanie Trump ever being such a lovely, humble person who knew who she was and presented herself not as an artificial model using her body to sell whatever it was she was selling. The hat ruined the suit and showed a person with a very hard edge who was anything but a warm, caring human being. I have yet to see any of those qualities in either Melanie or Donald Trump and that white hat and suit emphasized the arrogance, artificiality and lying image of the couple. What is a ‘lying image”? Presenting oneself as an image projecting not who you are but projecting that which one needs to show to make public one’s concept of power and control and that ‘better than’ attitude so constantly projected by the Kushner/Trump family.
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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.
Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.
Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net
Tags: Barbara Bush, Bettina Homes, Bettina Network's Lifestyle Community, breakfast table talk, Brigitte Macron, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Melania Trump, politics
Posted in Barbara Bush, Bettina Homes, Bettina Network Blog, Bettina Network Educational Institute, Bettina Network's Lifestyle Community, Brigitte Macron, Clothes, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Guest comments, Melania Trump, politics, Vladimir Putin | Comments Off on A Current Example of Bullying – Trump and Macron!