A Confession For MLK Day: What Trump’s John Lewis Tweets Say About Us

Last updated on: January 14, 2017 at 4:02 pm by Erin Wathen

A Confession For MLK Day: What Trump’s John Lewis Tweets Say About Us 2017-01-14T16:02:12-07:00 Erin Wathen

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I confess, not much surprises me anymore.

After the election, I became a little despondent. That America could elect a known misogynist who has no respect for women; a man who stoked racial tensions for his own political gain, and then blamed the existence of those tensions on the first black President; a man with know political experience or proven track record in… well anything; a man who exploited the faith of millions of Americans by saying a few magic words, while showing no real life inclinations toward actual human behavior, much less Christlike behavior; that such a man could manipulate the psyche of this great country and bully his way to the Presidency, literally broke something of my trust in democracy. Not to mention humanity. If none of this could deter his followers, I figured nothing would. This is what we get, when a man–any man at all–can convince half of us that he is more qualified than THE most qualified woman for the job. As a country, we clearly have daddy issues.

I confess, once I came to realize that nothing this man says or does will deem him unfit in the eyes of his followers, I decided my rage was pointless. I can be a good neighbor, serve the people close to me, call my representatives, and be the best pastor and mother I can be. I can make the world better in these little ways and try to forget that a mad man is leading us. I can do that right?

Except. While I didn’t vote for this man, and actively opposed his Presidency… Still I have to confess that I am part of the toxic system that built this monster. “We the people,” are all part of the machine that made this possible. We worship money as an idol, and we value it as a primary marker of success. We trust men above women to get any important job done. We want our news to be entertaining–sensational even–and so the media gives the people what they want, and what we got was this horror show. Horror gets great ratings.

We, the people, were so happy to believe that a black President meant a post-racial America.

I confess to you that I was unsurprised by news of Russian involvement in our election. I was un-phased by the implications–that one of our biggest adversaries must have something good and juicy on this guy, to want him in power so badly. I confess that I just rolled my eyes and accepted that this, too, he would spin as some construct of the “liberal media.” Why fight it? This is what we asked for.

But today–just two days shy of a national holiday when we celebrate progress towards racial equality–Trump unleashes another irresponsible, ill-informed Tweet storm, this time against Rep. John Lewis. A lifelong warrior for racial and economic justice, a public servant and a patriot. These ignorant remarks about Lewis–one of the original Freedom Riders– in such close proximity to MLK Day, are an indictment of how far we have not come since the days Dr. King’s dream. They tell the story of generations spent in silent complicity of racist constructs.

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Make no mistake–Trump, himself, is a nightmare. A fragile, narcissistic, power hungry man–with delusions of his own abilities and the scope of his support base. He is dangerous and he is going to f*** this up, bigly. Even so–we did this.

We put him in power, with our daily acceptance of a system that values wealth and excess, and maleness, and whiteness, above all else. And today, it shows. This juxtaposing of Rep. John Lewis–the very best of us, the work of the people– against the very worst of us, our entitlement, and our passivity, all captured in 140 characters or less… This is where we are.

Or rather, where we are not.

I confess to you that I knew this, but wanted to un-know it for awhile. I wanted to tend my own house, and forget that I’m part of this mess. But I am. And you are too. We did this. And whatever Trump says to the contrary about his democracy of one–only “we” can fix it.

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