For a while, I had been joking that there had to be a room, somewhere, where white men came together and tried to come up with every possible way to mess with people of color. Black people, more than anything, but let’s face it, anyone who isn’t white. Yeah, some white people will get lumped in, but “surely,” they said in my mythical room, “there will be collateral damage” — also now known as “temporary hardship.” Never mind that numerically, more white people live in poverty than any other ethnic group.

Imagine my surprise — Ha! — when I first heard of Project 2025. There they had been all along, sitting in some big fancy Heritage Foundation salon dreaming of…how to mess with people of color. Might I add “gleefully?”

Think about it: Who stands to lose the most under every single drastic (and at the same time terrifying) Trump “policy?” Forbidden abortions. Mass deportations. Health Care disaster — Hello RFK Jr? Dr. Oz? God help us! The slashed defense budget. No Social Security. The not-so-strange case of the disappearing SNAP benefits. Eliminating the rest of those government jobs? Holy cow! Let’s just look at postal workers alone. On second thought, let’s not. Just today, I met our new mail carrier: Alfred, nice guy, second day on the job. Did any of these nuts think about how the mail is going to be delivered without Black people? I could be wrong, but when was the last time most of you saw a white mailman? My uncle, a non-white WW2 veteran (another story for another day), was a dedicated mail carrier until the day he died. I have his 25th anniversary commemorative pin, complete with a ruby.

And then, beyond conditions resulting from centuries of institutionalized racism, there were once these things that came to be called Basic Civil Rights. Gone, at least in the vivid imaginations of those same conniving clowns. Once upon a time, yes, there was a Civil Rights movement…but hey, if we eliminate any trace of it in education or literature, it may all just be someone’s fading dream: as if it never happened. Let’s pretend…

Far be it for me to say, “I told you so;” still , again, there they were and there they continue to convene. As disturbed as I am about what they are doing to mess with people of color, I am deeply concerned about what happens with that collateral damage. Will enough of them figure it out? Or will we all just go down in the flaming tragic consequences of which we will all be victims?

Collateral damage…watch carefully…and beware.

(originally written in January 2017)

Eight years ago now, we read the op-ed pieces, or heard on television, the radio, or even face-to-face with someone we know: “Come on, give the man a chance.” But if you think about it — and it doesn’t take too much brainpower — all of those optimists, God bless them, were white

For the rest of us, we will still be Black. The same color as the man who Donald Trump has dedicated years now to discrediting — first with the whole birther nonsense and then, as a candidate, the inflammable messages of “Take America Back” and “Make America Great Again.” It was far too easy to appeal to even the most latent of racists — “Who me?” they ask — and he couldn’t resist that. Those same pundits can deny it all they want, but people of color know. We can see and feel the hate.

We will still be immigrants. The same people who founded this country and have arrived in wave after wave to conceive new futures for themselves and their families. And they’re still coming, but the waves are darker these days. Trump voters got downright ecstatic about the promise of a wall to keep those darn Mexicans out. They’d build one along the country’s entire perimeter if they thought it would work.

We will still be Latinos. You know, those “darn Mexicans,” because if they speak Spanish, they couldn’t possibly belong here. People who have been here for generations suddenly became regarded as “illegals.” Hispanics come in handy to do menial jobs, but really, they all have to go back to wherever they came from and stop taking our jobs. What?

We will still be Muslims. The same people who Trump first wanted to prevent from coming into the country and then wanted to expel. Called to action, his supporters now think it’s OK to attack them, wherever they are in this country we all call home.

We will still be women. Still struggling for equality and not quite making the mark. Apparently, far too many women just don’t care. They voted for a man who brags about sexually assaulting them. Their right to vote isn’t going anywhere (or is it?), but their rights to their own bodies is in for an assault. Fasten your seatbelts ladies!

We will still be LGBTQ. A few giants steps forward and… Well, I just don’t know. Hate is in the air.

I think you get my drift. But do not forget that we will also still be Americans.