The Struggle Americans with a Moral Compass Face

On Oct 16, 2016 I wrote a piece about what real political courage looks like.
This courage led to the loss of a block of southern states to the Democratic for more than a generation.

You see, Americans do not care much for history. When Americans do recite history it is generally a sanitized, milk-toast version written in a voice that is coma-inducing. We really do not know how many racists there are in America. It is just not something most Americans will own up to being. Being an overt racist has not been politically correct. That is until now.

We had overwhelming evidence long before the election that Trump was a racist. We have the dog-whistle racism of birtherism that no one on the right would denounce. When I say the "Right", I refer to both politicians and voters.

Today we do have an idea of how many racists or people that do not mind racists there are in America. The number is about 50 million. This is the number of loyal Republican/Trump voters that are still with him. Still with him in spite of the overwhelming evidence that he colluded with Russia in influencing our election. In spite of the overwhelming evidence of his ties to organized crime, to Russia an adversary and hostile foreign power, to criminal activity that includes money laundering.

Money laundering is something already on Trump's curriculum vitae. In 1998 Trump's casino ended up paying the Treasury Department a $477,000 fine for charges of money laundering he was facing. The plea bargain allowed him to pay without having to admit any liability under the Bank Secrecy Act. "Yes, little Mary and Kyle, poor Black and Hispanic men get hard time in Federal prison for simple possession of marijuana while rich people get fines that do not even amount to fair taxation for their crimes."

Anyhow, enough of Trump's litany of moral and ethical failures and back to our originally scheduled program. History overwhelmingly supports the following narrative.

• The Democrats were the party of Slavery, this is a fact! 
• A Republican led President ended slavery. This too a fact, as are all items that follow. 
• For 100 years, until the civil rights act we oppressed African Americans. 
• In the 1960's Democrats did the right moral and ethical thing and stood up to the actions of other racist Democrats. 
• Republicans used this opportunity to take control of a large block of southern states. 
• Since the civil rights era of the 1960's we have continued to practice a form of dog-whistle racism that we have politically institutionalized from our prison system to our system of education.

The racism we are experiencing today is not some new phenomena. Racism is baked into the fiber and being of American culture. A culture that so many on the right practice. A culture many on the left deprioritize and often work politically with Republicans to create legislation that serves to further server to oppress minorities.

It is time to throw away this cake and once and for all end the civil war. This does not need to be a war of violence though there has been and there will continue to be violence. This is a struggle for decency and what is just and moral. In this fight we are taking on about 50 million of are fellow citizens. Many are homophobic, racist, and really do not care much for Democracy.

Though I think darker days are still ahead we will prevail because we are the majority. I want you to burn this day into your memory. 59% of the Republican base agreed with Trumps comments comparing Neo-Nazis to protestors against Neo-Nazis. This is 40 million Republican voters. That number is sobering but should not come as a surprise to anyone if we examine history.

History will judge each and every one of us as we struggle through these times. Struggle to fight for the principles of decency and the foundation of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. The choice is yours. Be wise. Be decent. Be just. Do not be afraid to speak the truth.