Thank Donald Trump for making racism acceptable

The election is over and we now have a president who promotes diversity in the White House. Unfortunately, there are some who did not get the memo that the racist Trump regime is over. One of them is Marjorie Taylor Greene whose actions are so outlandish that Cori Bush wants to move her office. The idea that any of our elected officials could be so brazen with hatred is unacceptable and many are calling for Greene to resign due to recent comments. Margorie Taylor Greene has made a racist statement that Blacks and Hispanics are in gangs while Whites are not. She has also been accused along with her staff of harassing Coru Bush in the halls of the White House.

Thank you Donald Trump for setting the stage for insurrection and racists to let us know what is in their hearts. It is far better to know what someone really thinks about you than to have them pretending. Never in the history of our government has such despicable actions taken place. The new Vice President, Kamala Harris is a woman of color and there is great diversity within those that President Biden is choosing for his team. In spite of this Taylor Greene believes she has the right to harass a fellow congresswoman.

The residual effect of the Trump years has not been eradicated fully and hopefully, it will soon be non-existent. In the meantime, those like Marjorie Taylor Greene are going to occasionally pop up here and there until they are shown the door. There are also those who continue to believe the election was stolen through voter fraud. As a matter of fact, 5 of Donald Trump's lawyers for his impeachment trial have quit his team due to differences of opinion. Two of them, South Carolina lawyers Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier walked away because the former president wanted them to raise issues of election fraud during the Impeachment hearing.

During the past 4 years, Donald Trump's rhetoric led to incidents such as White Supremacists marching in Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us." The entire nation should have condemned this but instead, Trump supporters interviewed saw nothing wrong with the president's winks and nods to hate groups. Even when he told the Proud Boys to "stand by" over 70 million registered voters supported him. Thank you Donald Trump for getting Americans filled with hate to reveal themselves to the world.

I find it enlightening that so many US citizens are no longer afraid to let their racism show in public. Recently my youngest son and I were traveling home on US 460 through Bedford County, Virginia. I stopped at a convenience store along the main highway for gas. As soon as I got out of the car the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I felt very uncomfortable as if I were not welcome. I went inside and paid for my gas and a white male walked past me with a nasty look on his face. When I got to the counter I could see out of the corner of my eyes that he was glaring at me.

We were complete strangers and yet my presence in the store obviously bothered him. As I walked to the gas pump I saw two other white males standing nearby and I had that same feeling of being unwelcome. As I pumped the gas the larger man just stared at me. Again a complete stranger looking at me with hatred in his eyes. As we drove home I noticed that there were still Trump/Pence 2020 signs up in various places in Bedford County and I shook my head. The election is still over but the vitriol that Trump set in place continues to be very real.

Within 5 minutes we were out of that county and I breathed a sigh of relief. The entire atmosphere seemed to change and the hair on my neck was no longer standing up. A few days later my son said he had something to tell me. He asked me never to stop in that area again for gas and told me that he saw the large man giving me an evil look the entire time I was pumping gas. I am sorry that my son witnessed that incident because I was not going to tell him about it. This is America and any American should be able to stop at any convenience store they choose without being made to feel unwelcome.

Racism has always existed in this nation but Donald Trump has made it fashionable. To think that 2 complete strangers directed hatred at me just because I am black seems insane, but it's very real. The idea that Marjorie Taylor Greene and her staff thought they had the right to harass Congresswoman Cori Bush without repercussion seems surreal but is a fact. It would have been nice if on January 21, Donald Trump rode off into the sunset and we could simply move on from the past 4 years. There is quite a bit of residual damage that lingers but perhaps the old adage will ring true and eventually, this too shall pass. Thank you number 45 for revealing who you really are and getting others of like mind to expose themselves as racist as well.