We need to talk about Donald Trump’s mugshot

OPINION: Why is the white community so silent on the criminal element in their culture?

Look at this thug.

I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but when I saw the photo of Donald J. Trump taken by the photographers at the Fulton County Detention Center and Portrait Studios, I was appalled. While I believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty, I still find it hard to believe how many people in the white community are making excuses for someone who has been indicted in multiple jurisdictions. At some point, we have to accept the facts.

Donald Trump is a menace to society.

As a staunch supporter of the brave men and women of the law enforcement community, the anti-police rhetoric coming from “the hood” threatens us all. When I see my uncolored friends defending Trump’s immoral, unlawful, illegal actions, I understand why they have so much economic anxiety. You can’t even walk through a white neighborhood wearing the wrong colors without being attacked by gangbangers from QAnon, the Stop the Steal movement or the Ku Klux Karens. Until they come together and root out hoodlums like the man in this photograph, they will never be able to achieve the American dream.

I blame white culture. 

Look, I don’t have a racist bone in my body but the evidence is clear. It’s no wonder why their kids are more likely to commit an act of domestic terrorism or use drugs. Until they stop approving of gangsters and focus on hard work and education, they will continue to need legacy admission, government handouts and other forms of white privilege. But, of course, instead of taking responsibility for their actions, people like Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene rather cry about stolen elections, white voter suppression and “witch hunts.”

It’s time for us to stand up to this victim mentality.

Fifty-four percent of whites voted for a man who tried to steal 11,780 votes from a state that is majority white. Georgia’s secretary of state is white. The governor is white. Maybe if non-Black, non-Indigenous people of less color focused on white-on-white crime and family values, they wouldn’t have to use their allotment of white tears to fight the unfair criminal justice system. When you vote for vote suppressors like Brian Kemp, this is what happens. You know what they say about birds of a feather …

They steal elections.

Of course, I bet you’re blaming this on vote supremacy. Look, guys, I’m not saying reverse racism doesn’t exist, but it’s not systemic. No one is oppressing these people. When I chant “lock him up,” it has nothing to do with race! Some of my favorite presidents are white! I voted for a white man when I was in college! If America is so racist, how do you explain why 45 of the 46 presidents didn’t need washcloths when they were in the White House? If you don’t like the criminal justice system in the greatest, freest country in the world, maybe they should go back to Mar-a-Lago and see how they like it over there! 

Even though Fani Willis indicted Trump, not all prosecutors are racist. They indict Black people all the time! Where was all this righteous indignation when she indicted Young Thug? Now white people are upset because cops arrested an old thug?

Whatever happened to family values and Christian ideals? Back in my day, the white community wouldn’t vote for hoodlums like Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama. That’s why they hated Martin Luther King Jr. It had nothing to do with his arrest record. It was his mugshot. You people are ruining the legacy of democracy and freedom by embracing this outlaw. And I’m not giving this advice for political reasons. I’m only interested in making America great again. Trust me, Black people will be fine but your people need to take a long look in the mirror. As a patriot who doesn’t see color, I have to say it:

White lives matter.

Michael Harriot is a writer, cultural critic and championship-level Spades player. His book, Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America, will be released on September 19th.

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