Racism, Racism, Everywhere is Racism

(I need to preface this post by stating the obvious, lest I be accused of racism. Yes, racism exists. Yes, judging people by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character is both wrong and morally repugnant. But what the Left has done with the terms "racist" and "racism" is comparable to what the boy who cried wolf did to the fear of wolves. Let's take a look.)

For many on the Left, if you simply voted for Donald Trump for president you are automatically a racist. That makes 63 million Americans racists. One actress, Ellen Pompeo, commented on the fact that Kamala Harris seemed to be focusing most of her attacks on Joe Biden. Pompeo commented on that with this: "Because she is overconfident and believes he is her only competitor." Perhaps one of my readers can educate me about why that is a racist comment. Yet, that is what many on social media claimed. Said one person: "Black women are allowed only a certain amount of confidence. Must always yield to whatever white man is around." Make a note to add "overconfident" to go along with the "N" word and other racial slurs.

Of course, President Trump is always accused of racism. The latest accusations were in connection with his feud with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Trump was unhappy with Cummings' treatment of the Homeland Security Secretary during the Secretary's Congressional testimony. Trump then accused Cummings, who is black, and a civil rights icon to many, of being a "brutal bully." He referred to Cummings' district as being a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess"...and "far worse and more dangerous than the Southern border." For these comments, Trump was condemned, by many Democratic politicians and left-wing commentators, as being a racist.

But what about Bernie Sanders? During an earlier visit to Baltimore, Sanders made this remark: "Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you're in a wealthy nation. You would think that you were in a Third World country." Comparing parts of Baltimore to a Third World country was apparently not racist, allowing Bernie to criticize Trump for his alleged racism.

How about this? The former black Mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh, while walking around one of Baltimore's blighted neighborhoods, was shocked by what she saw and smelled. "What the hell? We should just take all this shit down...whoa, you can smell the rats...whew, Jesus...oh my G-d, you can smell the dead animals." But not racist, because Trump did not say that. But imagine if he did.

Then we have this comment from 1998 by none other than Elijah Cummings: "This morning I left my community of Baltimore, a drug infested area where a lot of the drugs we're talking about today have already taken the lives of so many children..." But not racist, because Trump did not say it.

In a July 31 Op-Ed in The New York Times, Steve Phillips writes "Make Trump's Racism an Issue," referring to the 2020 election. Says Phillips: "In every presidential election for the past 50 years, a majority of white voters have voted against the Democrat, and the overwhelming majority of people of color have sided with the party's nominee." Assuming those numbers to be accurate, I am not surprised. Democrats have been using "identity politics" for quite some time; and have also promised "free" stuff to garner votes. Identity politics is aimed at minority groups. It tells those minority voters that they are all victims - often of white society. You want divisive? Then keep playing identity politics.

In Charles Blow's July 22 Op-Ed in The New York Times, "Denying Racism Supports It," he was surprised by the findings in a USA Today/Ipsos poll, published July 17. Apparently, "more than twice as many Americans believe that people who call others racist do so 'in bad faith,' compared with those who do not believe it." Blow concludes "this all contributes to whittling away at the reality of racism itself..." That is one way to look at it. Another way is that people are tired of hearing the boy cry wolf.