Sadly, there’s no denying that a significant portion of white America, especially those with a “MAGA” mentality, don’t want Black Americans in this country, plain and simple, and are perfectly happy to see them killed by the police whenever the opportunity presents itself. That attitude generally applies to other people of color as well, but for right now I want to focus on the animosity directed specifically at African Americans. Here we are, well into the 21st century, over 150 years after emancipation, and these people would rather continue to hate and believe in an illusionary past.
I’m reminded of a song, “Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign” and its lyrics that accused the establishment of unfairly mistreating and rejecting “long-haired freaky people” (the rebellious baby boomers of the day). It also contained the line, “You ain’t supposed to be. . . here.” The record was a big hit in 1971, because it undoubtedly reflected the feelings of many young people at the time, but cutting your hair to conform to society’s norms is obviously a whole lot easier than changing the color of your skin.
Nothing is more important to this humble spirit’s mission than making sure people know the truth about our nation’s past. It’s no secret that, for many adherents, “MAGA” means “make America white again,” but in reality, America never was ALL WHITE. It may have been majority white (as it still is), but it only felt all white because of Jim Crow segregation and the suppression of many truths about our history. It’s all too obvious that such distortion and denial is the basis for MAGA hostility to African American studies, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and “The 1619 Project” (a series of articles in New York Times Magazine that will be a docuseries on Hulu). MAGAs will attack and try to suppress anything that explores the truths they don’t want to hear, of which there are many.
Ron DeSantis is a Well-Educated (Harvard, Yale) Guy Who Only Caters to MAGAs Because He Wants to Be President.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is presently trying to fuel a campaign for the White House based on his crusade against “wokeness,” just as Donald Trump used “Birtherism” to launch his own race. The threat of wokeness is no more legitimate than the claim that President Obama wasn’t a native-born American citizen, but no matter. Rather than face the unthinkable, that the country had a Black president, MAGAs were relieved and happy to believe yet another fantasy supporting the myth of an ever-white America. But when forced to confront the true history of our country, including the contributions African Americans have made since 1619, they go ballistic, cry wokeness and indoctrination, and demand protection from facts they find too threatening and offensive to process.
Does it occur to these people that covering up and sugarcoating the truth is offensive to a sizeable number of their fellow citizens, not just African Americans and other people of color, but white people who prefer to live in reality and want their children to learn the truth about the country and the world they live in? Just because a bunch of MAGAs don’t want to acknowledge that African Americans exist (and have since 1619), doesn’t mean Black people are obligated to disappear for the white majority’s pleasure and convenience. As that 1971 song said, “If God was here he’d tell you to your face—man, you’re some kind of sinner.”