White Guy in America: A Myth Dies a Horrible and Shameful Death

They think they are retaking power but they are shaming it

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

Powerful people do not spend their power intentionally hurting others, not if they have real power. Nor do they look away when leaders are wreaking vengeance on those they think have disobeyed them. And when our leaders are doing these things, our country is broken.

And that is where we find ourselves today. But we can fight this virus of heartlessness and rebuild by not buying into their mythology of white male superiority and mysognism. Full disclaimer, I am a white guy and I am fully aware of the advantages that confers upon me and the things I did not have to deal with because of an accident of birth.

This week we saw experienced military leaders summarily fired because they were women or people of color in a blatant display of racism and hate. That should forever be a moment of shame for all of us. And we saw silence from the Republican Congress as these actions were taken. Not only that, but we have a President who ordered those firings and took pleasure in them.

That is how the right rewards lifetimes of service and loyalty to the principles this country was built on. Frankly it makes me disgusted to be represented by men and women who have abandoned all decency in the name of a would-be petty despot billionaire and his lackeys.

One of the characteristics of Donald Trump is that he does not care about the future or his place in history, and he has surrounded himself with people who share that lack of consciousness about what this country has been for 250 years, the greatest political success story in human history.

For those of us who do not hate or fear everything we disagree with, this lack of personal awareness is impossible to understand. Where do these men come from? What made them so mad and fearful? Where is their pride and honor? And why do their colleagues support them or simply look away in silence as they destroy this place?

I’ll admit I am writing today as a form of cleansing, to rid myself of the disgust that has been building for the last month. But what really bothers me is that these people are going out of their way to find more and more…