Oh, to bring back the glorious days of the ‘20s.
That’s the 1920s. Or perhaps the 1820s.
I’m not sure which era President Donald Trump is aiming for.
What he is aiming at is the Biden Administration, even though Joe Biden is no longer president.
According to Trump, the fatal plane-helicopter crash at Reagan National Airport just across the Potomac River from D.C. is the fault of the Biden Administration’s DEI program.
That’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It’s a continuation of the drive from the 1960s to even the playing field for everyone, including people of color and non-Christians. The goal is open all occupations to all qualified people.
Instead of DEI, Trump and people of his ilk want DIE --- Discrimination, Intolerance and Exclusion. They want to turn the clock back to when WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) ruled the country. They want the era when people of color knew their place and Jews, Moslems and other religious minorities knew to keep a low profile. They want to go back to a time when women knew to stay home to take care of their husbands and children.
The DIE folks claim people of color are being given jobs they are unqualified for simply because of the color of their skin. They want the good paying, responsible jobs to be held by white men—who they say built this country. Forget the contributions of the people of color, the slaves who made plantation owners and others rich, the Chinese and Irish Catholic immigrants who built the railroads.
They label as communism any suggestion the rich should pay their fair share based on the wealth they have reaped from the labor of others, and that workers should receive a livable wage.
Our first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, said, "Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed."
I doubt Trump et al would subscribe to that opinion.
This country is a land of immigrants. All our ancestors came from somewhere else. Even the ancestors of Native Americans immigrated from Asia. Africans were brought to these shores in chains. Many died on the way. Many died from mistreatment. Many women were raped by their masters. Chinese and Irish immigrants faced massive discrimination. The Chinese were locked into their own areas and the first legislation to limit immigration was aimed at them. As late the 1920s, bars in New York City had signs reading “No Dogs, No Irish Allowed.”
The goal of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion is to work toward healing the damage that was done by discrimination. It’s goal is spreading the truth embodied in our Declaration of
Independence that “All men are created equal.” Given the language usage of the time, “men” means “people.”
But I suppose having a nation where everyone is treated equally, has equal opportunity, where every individual is judged by his or her character, not seen as part of a group, is too “woke” for Trump and company.
They seem to prefer a country of discrimination, intolerance and exclusion.
The real question is: Will the majority of Americans have the courage and wisdom to stop them?
Comments