I suspect that most of the letters that I and others may write expressing dismay, outrage, or disbelief about Donald Trump will change few minds. But in case anyone needed a reminder of how petty, illogical, insensitive, and hatefully racist he is, note his latest.
Despite its being utterly un-Republican philosophically and impotent legally, he has ordered a “1776 Commission” to be established (our tax dollars wasted) to promote “pro-American curriculum that celebrates truth about our nation’s great history” instead of “hateful lies” and “rioting and mayhem . . . the direct result of left-wing indoctrination” and “lies about America being a wicked nation plagued by racism.”
This is campaign blather, clearly dismissive of any sensitivity to the experience of millions like those in Concord who have expressed support for Black Lives Matter and anti-racism. It can’t possibly have any practical impact on any school’s curriculum anywhere. But it stridently appeals to those minimally susceptible to the conflation of “Democratic” and “left-wing” and “Black” and “rioting.”
Trump and his language represent not just hateful pandering to the worst instincts of his narrow base, they are a sickening insult to any citizen who might value thoughtful self-examination on an individual, community, or national level; and they are a grotesque swipe at a huge swath of our population whose experience has been denigrated (intentionally ironic word choice) for 400 years. It makes me sick.
CHIP MORGAN
Hopkinton