diversity

Grieving the Loss of White America

In an hour or two, the second Republican debate will take place.
I won’t see it but will take a look at the highlights from it in the newspapers.
I hear that Trump won’t show up. Again. Apparently he was planning to meet with auto industry strikers instead. Good luck.
He’ll need it because he’s getting bad advice, while making a mistake in believing the polls that put him ahead of Biden.
In today’s debate no one will say that the rage that Trump is stirring in his followers is a sign of the grieving of the loss of White America. They won’t say it because they’re afraid of the added rage it will ignite. But that’s the core issue driving his followers.
Lamentably for them, America is turning Brown and there’s no stopping it.
The other day Trump said that, once in office, he’d order the ‘greatest mass deportation’ the nation had seen. Right. In his dreams.
Too bad that White America has fallen for a man without the capacity to deal with their grief.
Had he been able to, after he was elected in 2016, he could’ve started the greatest education effort the nation has ever seen.
But he didn’t do that. Instead he settled for building a Wall in our southern border and the lowering of taxes for the already wealthy. He took the easy choices.
His followers would’ve been much better off if he had been honest with them. Sat down and said, ‘folks, I will do everything in my power, to help you become the most skilled workers you can become. So you won’t have to fear anybody, no matter what their color, because you will have developed the ability to continually adapt and the unquenchable thirst for self improvement.’ All of which entails a good bit of hard work.
But he couldn’t say that because self improvement is a foreign – yes, foreign – concept to him.
When he looks at himself in the mirror he sees a finished product, and a ‘terrific’ one, while the majority of us have to keep trying every day to improve our abilities.
Take the Russo-Ukrainian war as an example. It is a complex affair that has caused immense pain, but Trump comes up with the notion that he can settle the conflict in one day.
Yes, he said it.
If you believe that, then you likely were tempted to join the rioters that stormed the Capitol building on January 6th 2021, and truly believed you could change the will of the American electorate. If you resisted the urge to join, congratulations, you preserved your freedom.
I you did take part, you now must face the stark reality that you were duped.
There will be no one to pardon you because Trump will not win the next election. He will not even be the presidential candidate for the Republican party because sober, level headed party members, know that something is deeply wrong with the party and that reelecting Trump is a big step back for our nation.
Those level headed party members are not the ones making the most noise these days, but come election day they will march straight up to the poll booth and cast their voice for the future of the nation, not for a man who’s lacking the depth to tell his followers, ‘develop your abilities and rise to be the best you can be. And you will embrace other peoples because doing so enrich us and broadens our humanity’.

Biden’s New Multicolored Cabinet

There it is. Resplendent with possibility. The Cabinet members to be entrusted with carrying out the business of the nation. And for the first time ever, it will be made up of people representing the vastness of our population.

The selection process is not complete and we already have in place Hispanic Americans, African Americans, East Asian Americans, Native Americans with more to come. And it is to be a cabinet with a balance of men and women reflecting who we are. A cabinet that implicitly accepts that nature is very democratic in assigning ability even as human prejudice repeatedly attempts to thwart the process.

Joe Biden is staying true to his promise to govern the nation with all of the nation, not just White Americans.

These appointees are all men and women of merit who would not have had a chance to rise had it not been for Biden’s commitment to diversity.

He got elected because he appealed to that diversity, the many sections of the nation that had been bypassed because of the color of their skin.

Now they have a chance to shine and they will.

And what an example to the world.

At a time when nationalist movements rage against the influx of immigrants, Joe Biden is saying, ‘yes, we are a nation of immigrants and we will remain a nation of immigrants.’

Biden is saying it loudly, confident that his choices will deliver for him and for America.

Those talents were always there but owing to a sense of entitlement by the White majority, those talents were blocked, relegated or ignored.

In business, in the sciences, in entrepreneurship and the many other walks of life, diverse Americans as well as immigrants of color from all over the world were blossoming and enriching the nation that welcomed them. But the dominant majority would not let them have access to help guide the nation.

Now the time has come.

If sections of White America are resentful that they have been held back, then they have to examine themselves to see why it is that it happened while their own kind were in power.

And so in other nations across the world now confronting the rise of nationalism who choose to attempt to block the contributions of immigrants, i.e. Britain, Poland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands.

Joe Biden’s cabinet will be a transformational cabinet, because of his inclusiveness.

And he will not be disappointed. The men and women of diverse origins will not let him down.

They will strive to shine just as Barack Obama did when he was chosen as the first African American head of state.

This multicolored cabinet will have far reaching consequences and so become a formidable catalyst for human powers eager to contribute to this great land.

Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net oscarvaldes.medium.com oscar valdes@widehumr

9/20/18

Surely a case can be made for restricted immigration, for the careful disbursement of benefits to the newcomer, for gradualism in the acceptance of those who are different. But a strong case can be made also, that the immigrant enriches the host, bringing new grey matter and strong backs to the mix, challenging the host’s perceptions and broadening his views.

From a culinary standpoint alone, would you rather sample from the world’s dishes, or stick to meat and potatoes? Why, even pizza is an import.

It is no accident that America’s leading position in the world coincides with an openness to the foreigner that is unmatched by other nations. And though this sentiment has fluctuated through the years, inclusivity has more than repaid its costs.

That the current occupant of the White House is closed to that truth, does not alter it. The man went into denial for electoral reasons. After all, he has married two immigrants, and I venture that if a Muslim beauty had crossed his path, he might have married her too.