"Make American Great Again"....but was it ever "Great"?

              What would Martin Luther King think of Donald Trump? I do not think Dr. Martin King Jr. would not be pleased. Many of Trumps beliefs surround the idea of making all business in the United States and severing ties and relationships to other countries. Martin King Jr., was very involved with relationships with people overseas.  In a Newsweek article they state, "If Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was still alive, he would be speaking the idea that we're one people, we're one family, we all live in the same house," Lewis said Sunday, "not just American house, the world house, that we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters. If not, we will perish as fools."[1]One of Kings hung beliefs is to treat equally and with complete fairness and that is not was Trump is working towards. Trumps raciest comments humiliate the United States and we as Americans have become a huge joke to the rest of the world. Later in the same article it states, “’I don't think there's any way that you can square what the president said with the words of Martin Luther King Jr.,’ Lewis said in response to Trump's comments about immigrants. ‘It's just impossible ... It's unbelievable. It makes me sad. It makes me cry.’”[2] Trump is racially ignorant mainly because there has become thought as rude to talk about race a white person. I disagree with this unspoken “rule” whites need to be aware of their privilege and use their voice to speak out against racist comments, even if it is from the president. During President Trumps 2016 campaign Trump claimed he was the “least racist person there is” which is just a joke. Reverend Raphael Warnock the pastor at Ebenezer Church said, “The Trump era ... is a direct assault on the legacy of Dr. King”.[3] Trump still uses phrases such as “inner cities” which carries a lot of racial insensitivity.[4] Phrases such as that assumes that all black citizens still live in separate sections of the city. It also implies that whites are the majority and people of color are the minorities. It is one more way that he says that he is better than others without actually saying it. Trumps slogan “Make America Great Again” is saying that America was once great, but it was never great to start with. All that knew and respected Dr. Martin Luther King all believe that he would not approve of a current president but neither does the majority of the country.

---

[1]Guarnieri, Grace. "Civil rights leader John Lewis says Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would not be pleased with Trumps America." Newsweek. January 14, 2018. Accessed March 02, 2018. http://www.newsweek.com/mlk-trump-america-john-lewis-781076.

[2]Guarnieri, Grace. "Civil rights leader John Lewis says Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would not be pleased with Trumps America." Newsweek. January 14, 2018. Accessed March 02, 2018. http://www.newsweek.com/mlk-trump-america-john-lewis-781076.

[3] Press, Associated. "Martin Luther King Jr's daughter says Trump's presidency is an opportunity for the US to 'correct itself'." Business Insider. January 13, 2018. Accessed March 02, 2018. http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-leaders-say-trump-presidency-is-at-odds-with-mlks-legacy-2018-1.

[4]Joseph, Peniel. "What MLK might say to Donald Trump." CNN. January 16, 2017. Accessed March 02, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/15/opinions/mlk-trump-lewis-lynch-joseph-opinion/index.html.