Three days ago, word came out through various channels that our embattled president, facing intense criticism for his handling of the Black Lives Matter protests which swept our nation this past week, was likely going to make a public statement on race. Most notably, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that, by the end of the week, Donald Trump would address George Floyd’s killing and the tensions that it brought to the surface. “I believe you’re going to be hearing from the President this week on this topic in some detail,” Carson said, before going on to add, “I would ask you maybe to reserve judgment until after that time.”
Well, it looks as though the big speech in question — the one that will heal the nation and make us forget all about the Central Park 5, the Muslim travel ban, the remarks about “shithole countries,” the praising of racists as “very fine people,” and all the rest of it — may be happening tomorrow. According to the Texas Tribune, tomorrow night in Dallas, before a high-dollar fundraising dinner, Donald Trump will visit a church, where he intends to discuss race relations and policing. According to an anonymous White House official quoted in the article, Trump, during this speech, will announce his administration’s plans “for holistic revitalization and recovery.”
For what it’s worth, I don’t have high hopes. For one thing, Donald Trump came out today and said that he refuses to “even consider” changing the names of U.S. military bases named after Confederate generals, noting that they’re important to “our history of winning, victory and freedom,” conveniently ignoring the fact that these men, in addition to being traitors were actually losers who fought for the right to enslave their fellow citizens. More importantly, though, April Ryan reported yesterday that this important speech of Trump’s was being written by none other than white nationalist Stephen Miller, the man who, in the words of Ryan, “crafted Trump’s immigration policy at the southern border, including separating families and caging children.” And then there’s also the fact that Trump just announced that he plans to hold his first rally since the lockdown in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of 1932’s Tulsa Race Massacre. And, not just that, but he’ll be holding the rally on June 19th, or Juneteenth, the date black Americans celebrate the end of slavery in the United States.
So, no, I’m not expecting to be impressed by this plan for “holistic revitalization and recovery.” In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it set off a new wave of protests, just as the easing of social distancing rules around Memorial Day set off a new wave of COVID-19 deaths under Trump’s watch.
The good news is, things continue to change in spite of Trump. NFL commissioner Roger Goddell, while he didn’t mention Colin Kaepernick by name, released a statement saying that, “We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.” The television show Cops got cancelled after over 30 years on the air. HBO Max pulled Gone with the Wind from its lineup. The editor of Bon Appétit and the CEO of CrossFit both got forced out for race related issues. And today NASCAR came out and said that, from here on out, the Confederate flag wouldn’t be welcome at their events.
Yes, it’s largely window dressing — the group photo of the NASCAR Foundation’s board of directors could be used to white-balance a video camera — but these are significant first steps. Or at least they will be significant first steps, assuming the pressure stays on these companies, and there are subsequent, more substantial steps taken. Telling your fans that they’re no longer able to wave the offensive flag of a racist military that sought to destroy our nation is, literally, the least that an organization like NASCAR could do. But — and this is important — it’s more than the President of the United States has done to date. [Will he be asking those coming to his Juneteenth rally in Tulsa to not either wear or wave the Confederate flag?]
The importune thing is that the support for Black Lives Matter keeps increasing across the nation. And, as long as that continues to be the case, we’ll keep seeing positive changes. Racist monuments will keep coming down. Racists will continue to be pushed from power. And maybe we can even see a return of the Voting Rights Act.
