“A former co-worker recently asked me, “Larry, are you really afraid of Donald Trump?<\/p>\n
I have made my displeasure with the Trump campaign\u00a0very clear.\u00a0So, in fairness, I thought I’d try to answer that question.<\/p>\n
As a White, mostly Anglo-Saxon, Christian Protestant whose ancestors have been in the country for centuries,\u00a0I must admit that Donald Trump has not threatened to deport my children, as is the case with the DACA children, also known as Dreamers<\/a>.<\/p>\n I am not African-American, so I do not feel the bone-chilling threat to extend\u00a0“stop and frisk” nationwide. I have never had to have “the talk” with my sons that my black friends understand so well — how these sons of color \u00a0should not allow their mere blackness to be perceived as a threat to a police officer who stops them for a “tail-light violation”.<\/p>\n Nor can I fully feel what they feel when they hear echos of Richard Nixon’s “law-and-order rhetoric”, which has resulted in the mass-incarceration of so many\u00a0of African-American men, often over trivial charges. As a white father and grandfather, \u00a0I can only imagine the concern that every black parent feels when they understand that one out of every three black males will spend time in prison.<\/p>\n I have never had my citizenship called into question as has been done to our first African-American president. And I will not be directly impacted by the likes of prospective Attorney General Jeff Sessions , who is famous for his support of the “papers-please” legislation\u00a0that could harass and profile Hispanics, documented or not.<\/p>\n Since I am not Muslim, I cannot relive the “Muslim backlash” described to me by\u00a0a local university student\u00a0<\/a>years ago, which she had experienced when she lived in New York City in September, 2001- a backlash encouraged by the kind of false reports that Trump more recently re-tweeted to the world, and made a part of his presidential campaign.<\/p>\n Nor should I feel directly threatened by Trumpian spokesmen who would cite the detention of Japanese-Americans during\u00a0World War II as acceptable precedent for actions against Muslim-Americans.<\/p>\n As a white multi-generational descendant of immigrants of the 1800’s, I have no fear of my grand-kids being singled out by classmates and taunted\u00a0with anti-Hispanic “build that wall” chants.<\/p>\n I am told by many that statements made during campaigns have no relevance\u00a0to reality, that we should not be concerned about the degrading, stereotypical, racist, ill-advised if not downright spiteful, statements that Candidate Trump screamed to the pleasure of his campaign rally audiences for a year and a half.<\/p>\n Try to tell that to my close Colombian-American friend (a fully documented US citizen, and deacon at my church), a committed Christian who recently told me, after following carefully the Trump Campaign to its victory, that he experienced a feeling\u00a0unlike anything since 9-11 in New Jersey! \u00a0 He\u00a0lives in fear that Trump might have really meant something of what he said.<\/em><\/p>\n As a Christian, I am a part of the Kingdom of God which transcends race and seeks to tear down walls. I am a part of humanity’s “Greater We”. \u00a0As such, We are black, white, and all shades of brown. And\u00a0Yes, We Are Afraid! \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n However, we have faith in God and confidence\u00a0in our Constitution — and hope that Candidate Trump was a not a man of his word!<\/em><\/p>\n A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. \t\t\t\t“A friend and former co-worker recently asked, “Larry, are you really afraid of Donald Trump?<\/p>\n
\n For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.<\/strong>
\n — Jesus of Nazareth from Luke 6:45 NIV\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"