Carole Simpson

WARNING

Sep 26, 2020 | 2020 Election, Crazy Town, Government, Racism, Republicans, Something. To. Say., Trump | 0 comments

WARNING

No friendly hello this time, my fellow Americans. This is a 5-alarm fire. It’s Defcon 5.  It’s code red. It’s time to scream:  WTF?

       If you haven’t watched the news in the past few days, then you don’t know that Donald Trump is planning to hurl this country into the biggest constitutional crisis the US has ever seen. He would destroy our democracy to avoid losing the election to Joe Biden. He’s so sick and power-hungry that he wants to install himself as the supreme leader for life. An American dictator. To him, rules do not apply.

        So, what is he up to? He’s saying the Democrats are trying to rig the election with mail in ballots. If Biden wins, he will say the election was stolen from him.  He indicates he may not leave office. He’ll just remain president. Never in the 244 years of our history has a president dared to pull such a stunt. Trump can’t do that. The people decide with their votes who will be president.

      Why all the alarms I was setting off? Because some historians say this could lead to America’s Second civil war. The country is so divided. Some of Trump’s supporters are gun-totin’ white nationalists who have been itching for years for a race war. Oh, and would Russian President Putin invade to help his old pal, Trump? And all of this during racial tensions and a pandemic.

       What can you do? On November 3rd, you have got to vote, you and everybody you know. You have got to let your political leaders know that you will vote against them if they don’t denounce Trump’s shenanigans. Folks this is deadly serious. It’s just about as bad as it can get.

See you again.

 

 

 

Kids Say The “Damndest” Things

Nov 21, 2019 | Racism, Something. To. Say. | 0 comments

Kids Say The “Damndest” Things

Hello Everybody.  I have something to say about kids and race.

         I love children. Lately, on Sunday nights after 60 Minutes, I watch “Kids Say the ‘Darndest ‘Things” hosted by Tiffany Haddish. It’s an update of the old  Art Linkletter show of the same name.  Cute precocious children are asked  questions and their answers can be sweet, hilarious and outrageous.

        Recently, Tiffany asked a nine-year-old boy what his ideal wife would be like.

Without hesitation, he said, “Maybe a white girl.”

        The audience gasped and then laughed. Tiffany pretended to cry and told the boy he hurt her feelings, because, as she put it, “I feel you’re telling me I don’t have a chance.”  The little boy seemed to realize that what he may have said the wrong thing, and he buried his head in his hands, while his parents cringed in the audience.

       I wondered why this little boy would specify the race of his ideal wife. He didn’t say she had to be pretty or smart or rich. She had to be white. Where did he get this? From his parents? Friends at school? The media?

       I only saw one boy on TV, but I thought about how many other young boys out there would give a similar answer? Hundreds of thousands? Probably.

       We know there is racial prejudice in America, but that today, it is still reaching down to our young children, is truly depressing. Many people like me dreamed that someday color would not matter. Unfortunately, it will always matter. Huh, I just said the damndest thing.

Until next time.

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Trump’s Racist Tweets Go Too Far

Jul 29, 2019 | Racism, Something. To. Say., Trump | 0 comments

Trump’s Racist Tweets Go Too Far

Hello Everybody.  I have something to say about Donald Trump’s racist, malicious, and hurtful tweets about black Congressman Elijah Cummings and Baltimore.

Trump has the audacity to demean my people, and brown people living in American cities. He says they are crime, rat and cockroach-infested. He suggests the people are to blame. Really, Donald? Really? How about neglect, poverty, no jobs, redlining and the lack of public services? I think so.

      I watched the respected Victor Blackwell, a CNN anchorman, fight back the tears as he expressed his anger at Trump for calling Baltimore, the city in which he was born and bred, a “disgusting…mess”…”filthy and dangerous” and of course, “rodent-infested.” I suppose he’d say the same about my old neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago.

       There are 37 million African Americans in this country. Thirty-seven million. It seems Donald Trump has only been exposed to black athletes and rappers. Oh yes, and his Uncle Tom Cabinet Secretary Ben Carson.  Has Trump ever had contact with working class and middle class black and brown people?  The vast majority who work hard every day to survive and who strive for the same things white people want: a good job, a nice home, good schools for their kids, and the pursuit of some happiness. Has Trump seen them? No, he hasn’t seen them. He doesn’t want to see them. Easier to paint us all with a wide brush of criminal activity, low I.Q.’s and dirt.       

       I have nightmares. You know what I think Trump is up to—and it scares me to say this—but I think he would like to begin the eradication of black and brown people from America. His Twitter campaign and his rallies have been building hatred and distrust. His master plan includes denying Muslims entry into the country.

       But his main attention is focused on South of the Border. He’s barred immigrants from Mexico and Central America. His administration has made those brown people seeking asylum, “untouchables” by forcing them into inhumane conditions. And by God he’s going to wall them off. And the cities, which he ignores other than to denigrate them, will be left to black people, who will only be able to find refuge in crime-infested ghettos.

It makes me so mad. Nobody in this country seems to have the will, the desire or the courage to stop Trump from tearing the country apart. What are you doing?