No Mexicans or Dogs Allowed: Whites Only

The recent hoopla over President Donald Trump’s presidency took me back to Kansas when exclusionary racist signs were pasted on businesses on the other side of the tracks; hence the title of my column. Many of those signs that remain embedded in my consciousness have literally been taken down but new ones will soon be appearing, maybe not in name but certainly in attitude, as a new administration takes the reigns for the next 4 years. The only difference is that both signs can now be melded into one.

I listened to the 45th President of the United States of América on television as he gave his inaugural speech. His oratory was simple but politically correct aimed at the new right, after all they finagled him into office. They applauded vigorously as he sloganeered his way through his speech. The Congress now in control with a superfluous itinerary that, if implemented, will transport us backwards into the 1950’s. Trump’s Sermon on the Mount was contradictory; mimicking a preacher with a flock recruited from the theater of the oppressed. His so called transfer of power from Washington bureaucrats to the people is really a transfer of hate towards human beings that do not fit into his ilk. You do not unite a divided nation through exclusionary practices. Trump is waging war with Washington bureaucrats and the media through his pugnacious rhetoric.

One striking example of his exclusionary practices is Trump’s refusal to appoint any Latinas/os into his kitchen cabinet full of billionaires and bankers. His political payback to the Latinos in American society seems to be very conscious targeted at two of ex-cronies, Ted Cruz and Mario Rubio. His vengeance ironically is aimed at his own party and political chums that overtly criticized him for his inflammatory statements. Although I abhor those two politicos for their imigraphobic stances against undocumented workers directed at Mexicans are as contradictory as their new president. They at least had the courage to stand up to Trump during his verbal assaults against the women in their lives.

[pullquote]One striking example of his exclusionary practices is Trump’s refusal to appoint any Latinas/os into his kitchen cabinet full of billionaires and bankers.[/pullquote]

His braggadocios attitude about returning jobs to Americans and calling down corporations that continue to outsource employment opportunities into other countries places corporations in a precarious position. They will be hiring workers that may demand a tad more than what corporations are willing to pay as undocumented workers prepare to climb a monstrous wall. Trump has not supported the $15 an hour wage increase. I doubt that his business partners will discuss the creation of unions something that is abhorrent to the right, so that workers can be protected. His trickle-down theory of economics will only drop so far. Corporate CEO’s may become the villains of his new social order where the rich will make decisions about worker’s rights and generally implement policies where low wages, long working hours and no benefits become part of the structure. Getting people off an entrenched welfare system that has created psychological dependency for the poor and was supposed to be a temporary Band-Aid approach to the Puritan Ethic over a hundred years ago may cause more poverty, especially as the dynamics of labor and capital enter the ring for an all-out free for all. Repealing Obamacare places Trump as the Robin Hood of the rich, that is, stealing from the poor to give back to the rich.

His strong patriotic allegiance to America and to a Bible that he interprets at his whims also seems contradictory. He wants to chase false prophets out of the White temple. Getting rid of Islamic terrorism by slamming the doors shut and offering bus passes to those that practice another religion reeks of religiousism and goes against the grain of a true democratic society. He is tired of empty talk but seems to be replacing it with further speechifying.

Refusal to share his tax returns to the American public sends the message that he is hiding something. The emolument clause of the United States Constitution is being tested for the first time. If the old adage that perception is reality, his lack of transparency, something other presidents many have done since the founding fathers creating the constitution, reeks of conflicts of interest.

Trump lost the popular vote by almost 3 million people, many who took to the streets following his inauguration. He pleaded for resolution and unity but continued his truculent rampage against those who offer criticism in how it needs to come to fruition. A multitude of Congress members boycotted his initial speech, practicing what may be left of one of the last bastions of democracy. His lack of social etiquette also hamper his ability to effectively communicate with other leaders.

No Mexican and dogs allowed bespeaks of the lack of diversity in Trump’s administration.

Dr. Ramón Del Castillo is an Independent Journalist. ©

January 21, 2017 Ramón Del Castillo.