Learning from racism

Yesterday two of our friends popped round to have a chat in our driveway.  It was very socially distanced, but it was nice to see and talk to friends.  One thing discussed was the outcry over the advert that Sainsbury's have had this Christmas because it features a family who are all black.  We agreed on two things.  It is right for this advert to be shown.  And Sainsbury's have already let shoppers who disagree with inclusivity know that they can always shop elsewhere. 

And this brings me onto an issue that has come up in the aftermath of the elections in the USA. Notably racism in US politics.  I know that Donald Trump does not mean to sound racist, but he has, an example being his comments on a Judge, American by birth.  

One of the allegations was that, when working with his father, the company he ran employed a racist housing policy, aiming to exclude black people.  While some have argued that this was the action of his father, and that he should not be held accountable for that, he was named in the court papers with his father.  

The other allegation is that the Democrats are the party of racism.  They were, and my daughter has been learning about this during this term at her school.  But now, the Republicans are the party that White Nationalists flock to.  Yes, there have been KKK members in the Democratic Party and one that is mentioned is Robert Byrd.  But what people forget that that he renounced racism and worked towards bringing about civil rights for Americans that were not dependent on skin colour.  Just like Johnny Lee Clary.