Trump's True Wall
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Imagine a wall. It’s made of bricks—74,222,958 of them. That makes it long and high and imposing.
Now imagine each of those bricks represents one of the people who voted for Donald Trump. That’s how many there were. Those bricks don’t all look alike. In fact, many are distinct and misshapen. It’s more like the craggy rock wall of an Irish farmer than the clean, uniform side of a church or school.
In fact, you’d almost swear that wall would fall down under its own weight. But it doesn’t. Because it’s bound by a mortar that’s never failed. In fact, it’s the bond that restrains all of America.
The mortar in Trump’s wall is racism.
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If you want to enrage a Trump voter, the easiest way is to call him a “racist”. He’ll sputter and explode. “Not the truth!”, he’ll scream. More like, the truth hurts.
In fairness, we concede that not every one of those bricks is marked “KKK” or “confederate flag” or “state’s rights.” Some are “normal” people who you wouldn’t identify as much different from yourself. But they are different. Because they chose to join that wall, and thus they share its binding shame.
Over the decades, cracks have formed. There was the Emancipation Proclamation…and the Voting Right Act…and school desegregation. But the wall was mended. There was always a fresh pail of fears to spackle any weakness. What’s been so carefully tended since 1619 was never going to crumble all by itself.
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But here’s the thing. There’s a tool called a mason’s hammer. It’s particularly designed for brick work: heavy and blunt on one end, pointed and piercing on the other. To be sure, one hammer isn’t going to do much damage to a wall with 74,222,958 bricks—especially if that wall is firmly bound.
But when a mosque is torched, or a hangman’s noose symbolically displayed, or a faux patriot storms into our Capitol wearing a t-shirt reading, “Camp Auschwitz” …more hammers are raised.
Once more, these are times that try men’s souls.
To pass the trial, pick up your hammer.
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