Maybe I was never truly aware of some people's respect, but honestly, I feel like since our current President took office, people have been enabled to spread hate in an awful way. Don't get me wrong... I know people have been doing it for years (hell, CENTURIES), but things just somehow seem so much worse with Trump as president.
I'll backtrack a little. Basically, on Friday, there was an Indigenous People's March in Washington D.C. One Native American man, Nathan Phillips, who had been at the march, at one point, encountered a group of young boys with "MAGA" hats on. One young man, in particular, was standing nearly a foot away from Phillips, with a condescending smirk on his face. While this was going on, many of his classmates were behind him, chanting and making the "tomahawk chop."
It was even more heartbreaking when Phillips told reporters that he felt "threatened," and honestly, I don't blame him for feeling this way. The body language of the young MAGA supporter was clear: to him, Phillips and other indigenous people did not belong in America. They seemed to have missed the history lesson though, about how Natives actually had this land first, before they were killed, raped, assimilated, and sold off as slaves.
You know, every day I wake up, and I truly do believe that the world is becoming a better place. I mean, technology has radically changed how we become more knowledgeable and less ignorant. But then there are situations like these where I'm just like, "Really? We haven't learned."
In my opinion, I feel like Trump's ascension to the Presidency has really enabled people to blatantly and ignorantly hate others. I mean, look at what's happening with this government shut down... it was shut down for almost a month now and it's over a WALL to keep immigrants out of America... AMERICA, which is the HOME OF IMMIGRANTS (uhhh, hello? Ellis Island, anyone?).
No, but really. Our leaders should be promoting peace, love, and acceptance. THAT'S how you make America great again.