It comes as no surprise to me that the William Barr Justice Department, with the blessings of the Trump White House, have decided to turn their judiciary backs on a barbaric practice banned in the U.S. 20 years ago. With those not familiar with the practice of female genital mutilation or FGM it is a cultural and religious practice once widely used in 30 countries, predominantly Africa and the Middle East. Defenders of the practice leaned on centuries of cultural normality and religious obliviousness to continue the abominable procedure. I will not subject you to the gruesome particulars of the practice here; but if you want more details about how untrained, unsanitary and torturous methods are foisted on young girls and women, you can read further details in a story written by Eva Ontiveros for BBC World Service.
There is a theme to this White House. They have authorized the caging of children and families who are seeking asylum from rape, crime, gangs, and murders in their countries of origin. A year after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017 the government of Puerto Rico revised the resulting death toll to numbers in excess of 2,975, that number is still climbing in 2019. Donald Trump’s response has been to wildly exaggerate relief effort dollar figures and go on a misinformation campaign placing blame on Puerto Rican officials. Also, what appears to be his purposeful avoidance of bestowing presidential accolades on people of color for their heroic deeds has one common thread, RACISM!
His attitudes have even jaundiced the news media. Last Friday former San Francisco 49ers analyst and University of Oregon wide receiver Keanon Lowe disarmed and subdued a shotgun-wielding high school student at Parkrose High School, in all probability saving an untold number of lives. Two weeks prior, and just days before his graduation Kendrick Castillo sacrificed his life to save his classmates, literally placing himself between his friends and the shooter and allowed them to escape physically unharmed.
There was no press conference by the President or a publicly released official statement so far for either of these heroes. Two days following the tragic events that led to the death of Heather Heyer, in Charlottesville, Virginia by a white supremacist, Mr. Trump made sure we knew during a press availability that there were “very fine people” among the killers, racists, and anti-Semites. This is a dangerous time for me and other people of color, not only in America but around the world. Mr. Trump has no respect of person or culture.
A clue to the President’s skewed view of life was revealed in a Fox News interview Sunday. Mr. Trump tried his best to stay on script, talking about America’s aversion to war and not letting Iran have a nuclear weapon. All concise diplomatic statements, then he revealed himself once again with these words, “I'm not somebody that wants to go into war, because war hurts economies, war kills people most importantly – by far most importantly,”the president said. Once he realized he placed economics above lives he tried his best to clean up his self-inflicted flub but face it, that is who he is.
Vote in 2020 for Change.
