Yesterday, when I heard that Jussie Smollet, one of the stars of the hit show Empire, was attacked by white men in ski masks who yelled racial epithets and gay slurs, I wasn’t angry. I was numb.
That’s because in Trump’s America, hating those who are different has become a regular occurrence. It’s become a normal story. It’s become a way of life.
So it’s not shocking to hear that Smollet received a letter a week before the attack, where someone threatened to hurt him because he is black and openly gay. It’s not shocking to hear that his attackers yelled racial and anti-gay slurs while fracturing his rib. It’s not shocking to hear that they wrapped a noose around his neck. It’s not shocking to hear that they yelled, “This is MAGA country!” after beating him on a Chicago street.
In a country that’s been divided by a leader too weak to unite us, MAGA is a term we’ve heard much more than we should have. To hear our president tell it, he’s sought to Make America Great Again. But if you ask those who’ve been victimized, he’s sought to Make America Hate Again.
Ask the Native American elder who was confronted at the Lincoln Memorial if he felt greatness in the smirking teens who mocked his native culture.
Ask the Latino judge whom Trump said couldn’t do his job because he was a Mexican.
Ask the immigrant children who were snatched from their mothers and caged at the border if they know what MAGA means.
Trump will tell you it means Make America Great Again. But for those who’ve been victimized in its name, that greatness has been reduced to Make America Hate Again.
Instead of white hoods with cut out holes, the followers of this hateful code wear red hats with white letters. Instead of burning crosses and white robes, they hurl burning insults and pure hate.
Because while Trump will tell you that he’s made America great again, the rest of us see that he’s made America hate again.
No one should be comfortable in a country where thugs in ski masks attack people because they’re different. Whether we agree with their lifestyle or not, whether we can relate to their background or not, whether we agree with their politics or not, we are all here, we are all American, and no one should believe that you have to be a certain color, or come from a certain place, or stick to a certain politics to be great.
We can all be great, but first we have to stop the hate.
