Stand still and count to 8
I saw this
so I had to go looking for it.
She’s not kidding. He walks up, shaking his stupid little fists, the two of them stand there with their backs turned as if at a urinal, then Trump puts a “that’s enough I’m bored” hand on Pence’s shoulder and they turn around and Trump shakes a stupid little fist again.
God I wish he would just spontaneously melt into a pool of grease right this second.
And the MAGAbots break out in a “USA!” chant. Because MLK was all about mindless jingoism.
This is not meant as a defense of Trump in any way, because the president has plenty of options that ordinary people don’t, but just while we’re on the subject: I’m always at a bit of a loss for what to do on MLK Day.
My former workplace treated it like it wasn’t even a real holiday — you know, technically the hourly folks got the day off because the law says so, but us salaried folk were kind of expected to be there. Now I either take a full or at least a half-day off, but it’s a weird sort of holiday. There’s no party tradition associated with it, like July 4th or Memorial Day or Labor Day barbecues, and I don’t expect there ever will be given that the weather isn’t good and it’s so soon after Christmas and New Year’s. But we’re not like, supposed to spend the day contemplating race relations or watching all of MLK’s speeches, are we? I seem to end up doing something like today — half a day’s work, run some errands, take a nap, and watch the Australian Open. Which, you know, is a nice way to spend a day, but I do feel vaguely guilty about it.
What do the rest of you do?
To be fair…
…that video has a clear cut. So maybe it was 30 seconds, and maybe it wasn’t. If you’re going to slam someone for only doing something for 30 seconds, might as well show the whole thing, right? If it truly was only 30 seconds, then that cut was stupid.
Also…what really was the right thing to do here? Stand there for much longer than 30 seconds? Even the time they show seems too long. Trump standing there for, say, 10 minutes, would be unbearable for everyone.
Speaking about MLK and highlighting his achievements would be nice, and I’m guessing Trump did that at some point during the day. If he’d set up a podium right at the memorial and given a speech, I doubt that would have gone over well either.
Trump’s an incompetent idiot that has no business being president. We all agree on that. I just think when we jump on him for things like this it undermines our cause. He does so much truly wrong that I think anything that could plausibly be framed as unfairly picking on him is best avoided so all criticisms don’t get lumped into that category.
“What do the rest of you do?”
There are plenty of things you could do. Not everyone needs to go out and march for civil rights on their day off from work. That said, your “vague sense of guilt” would be better assuaged by actually doing *something* that at least raises your awareness of *why* you have this particular holiday off. What your day of general freedom is about.
Maybe start by finding out more about who MLK was and what he stood for, what life for a brown-skinned person must’ve been like before the Civil Rights Act. (“Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin is a recommended read.) In the process you might be shocked to discover how the US gov, specifically the FBI, sought to undermine and discredit him. Even sent him letters trying to goad him into committing suicide. This is all well-documented history.
Here’s a helpful Wikipedia page to get you started: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
Hope it raises some awareness.
I visited the DC King memorial shortly after it opened, and discussed it with my father, a black man who covered the civil rights movement as a journalist and knew King. I was disappointed in the memorial; I thought King would not have wanted the emphasis to be so much on him personally, but rather on the goals and ideals of the movement. My father concurred. The huge statue Trumppence stands before is a literally outsized emphasis on the man.
What do I do on the holiday? All holidays are Saturdays to me, devoid of personal meaning; this was no exception. I was downtown (Montgomery, Alabama), and I noticed a youth group finishing up a visit to the Legacy Museum, Bryan Stephenson’s excellent new display about the history and legacy of slavery in the US, and I thought that sounded like a perfect way to honor the spirit of the holiday if one is inclined to do so. There are a number of good relevant exhibits in town, for those who are interested, on a particular holiday or not. Me, I had dinner out for other reasons. I do wish to get back to Legacy Museum (and the associated lynching memorial), though, particularly because they’ve opened a new area; it’s a powerful and unsettling museum. I’ll do that off-peak.
Bryan Stephenson was on Fresh Air last night and he was astounding. They played a bit from his previous interview a few years ago and I remembered listening to it then – about being parked outside his apartment building and sitting in his car for a few minutes to think, and being challenged and threatened and terrorized by cops.
Skeletor @ 3 – what was the right thing for Trump to do here? I don’t know, but certainly not this. Toddling up to a monument while shaking his fists, then standing still for a little time as if it were church, then walking away shaking a fist is, among other things, insultingly pro forma and perfunctory.
And as for “anything that could plausibly be framed as unfairly picking on him is best avoided” – that ship sailed and sank and exploded long ago. He does EVERYTHING badly, and that needs pointing out and underlining. This stupid little exercise is Trump doing a thing badly because he doesn’t care and because he can’t see past his own hypertrophied ego.
You saw his MLK Day tweet?
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1219348788973838336?s=19
Always about him.
There’s a lot goes on here in Memphis, naturally, with events at the National Civil Rights Museum and the wonderful Days of Service (https://www.volunteermemphis.org/Pages/MLK-Days-of-Service/3705/). Days of Service is a local thing but I’d love it if it went national. I think Dr King would have approved.