SW MO Democrats: Mr. President, use your bully pulpit for good instead of hate

(From Southwest Missouri Democrats)

The hate-filled demonstrations held yesterday in Charlottesville, Virginia and the subsequent violent acts committed by white supremacists against counter protesters have shocked and saddened us.

These events should galvanize our nation to action. We cannot let those that salute Nazi and other symbols of racist oppression set our national narrative and we must all condemn racist beliefs. We as Southwest Missouri Democrats agree with the statement made by our MDP Chair, Stephen Webber, “this racist Nazi terrorist ideology cannot be given even the slightest space to exist in American politics.” And we also stand with Senator Claire McCaskill who tweeted, “The hate on display in VA is ugly, and morally repugnant. And it is the essence of anti-American. Shame on them.”

The hateful rally held in Virginia was coined by it’s organizers as, “Unite the Right.” Instead our nation must be united against racism. This message must be sent unequivocally and without hesitation. Our 45th President’s statement was lacking on both points. To qualify racist violence by tweeting “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides. On many sides.” -@POTUS, President Trump is participating in the worst type of victim blaming. The side that we expect our President to condemn is the side who took the life of 32-year old Heather Heyer in Charlottesville on Saturday. Other Republicans have not hesitated to speak out on this and we hope that they will continue this patriotic stance to raise our public discourse. We hope that these Republican Senators will join our Democratic public servants and organizations in this fight for equality and to raise our level of public discourse. We appreciate the statement of Senator John McCain (R-AZ),

“White supremacists aren’t patriots, they’re traitors; Americans must unite against hatred & bigotry #Charlottesville” and Senator Hatch (R-UT) re-tweeting Alejandro Alvarez who said,

“Their tiki torches may be fueled by citronella but their ideas are fueled by hate, & have no place in civil society.” Senator Hach later expounded tweeting, “we should call evil by its name. My brother didn’t give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home.” -OJH

The rally that took place yesterday is a symptom of a hateful undercurrent seething within the citizenry of our nation. This racism has many causes, but we must remember what former MO SOS Jason Kander noted on social media, “No one should forget that the birther movement emboldened white supremacists. Or that it was led by @realDonaldTrump.” Genevieve Williams, MDP Vice Chair added on Twitter, “if you build it (a space for white supremacy in public discourse) they will come (out of the woodwork with tiki torches). #Charolettesville

Our current President had a roll in feeding this racist undercurrent and it is time for him to own these actions and denounce the results. He is no longer a candidate; he is now our President and Commander in Chief. Once elected to be a public servant, a true leader must work for all citizens, not just his base. Mr. President, we ask you to own your past actions that directly enabled the events of yesterday and to use the “Bully Pulpit” for good instead of for hate.