Last week communities across the country protested ongoing racial injustice and faced a resurgence of coronavirus. Meanwhile, Trump doubled down on his racist agenda by placing a former governor with a proven track record of racism at the helm of a new seafood task force, while at the same time eliminating protections for the first and only marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
One way to help ensure just and equitable treatment for all Americans is to be cognizant about the people we place in positions of power. To start -- we must reject “leaders” who have a proven track record of racism. It is obvious we cannot trust Trump to play by these clear and reasonable directives.
Paul LePage has a documented history of racism, including statements like the following while at a town-hall meeting:
"These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty -- these types of guys . . . They come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue that we've got to deal with down the road."
And this, during a statehouse press conference:
"You’ve been in uniform? You shoot at the enemy . . . You try to identify the enemy and the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority of people coming in, are people of color or people of Hispanic origin.”
When Trump doesn’t hold racist people like this accountable for their words, but instead puts them in positions of power, he sanctions racist statements and policies. This unjust cycle prolongs racial inequality. It poisons our government and communities of color. We need your help pressuring the White House to remove racists from government positions!
