Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–February 2, 2017
Frederick Douglass, who died in 1895, will be making “more and more contributions” to the Trump Administration according to Press Secretary Sean Spicer
We are only two days into Black History Month. And in the first of what will likely be numerous tests related to diversity and inclusion for the Trump Administration, they have failed spectacularly.
It’s no secret that race relations in this country are at a tipping point. The fact that it was Trump (who spent several years fostering birther nonsense) that replaced the first black president is a bitter pill to swallow. And since three-quarters of blacks believe that race relations will worsen during his presidency, you’d think the administration would have used this opportunity to show some seriousness to commemorate the occasion.
But, as is to be expected, Trump never fails to show how truly unqualified he is—and this was no exception. Yesterday at the White House breakfast kicking off Black History month, we saw his speech turn into a bizarre, incomprehensible rant about the media.
I’m proud to honor this heritage and will be honoring it more and more. The folks at the table in almost all cases have been great friends and supporters. Darrell—I met Darrell when he was defending me on television. And the people that were on the other side of the argument didn’t have a chance, right? And Paris has done an amazing job in a very hostile CNN community. He’s all by himself. You’ll have seven people, and Paris. And I’ll take Paris over the seven. But I don’t watch CNN, so I don’t get to see you as much as I used to. I don’t like watching fake news. But Fox has treated me very nice. Wherever Fox is, thank you.
And then after he proved that he knows nothing about history with vague remarks about Frederick Douglass making a ‘yuge’ impact, press secretary Sean Spicer said this in an attempt to defend his boss:
“I think he wants to highlight the contributions that he has made,” Spicer said. “And I think through a lot of the actions and statements that he’s going to make, I think the contributions of Frederick Douglass will become more and more.”
Frederick Douglass died in 1895 so he won’t be making “more and more contributions” any time soon.
But considering that he was a well-known abolitionist who is commonly taught about in schools across the country and that his several autobiographies are some of the most famous to emerge from the Civil War era, his contributions are already very well known by historians, and likely anyone who has ever picked up a book. Of course, the fact that this president didn’t know who Douglass was isn’t all that surprising, since we know he’s not a fan of reading any book that wasn’t written about him.
And then to wrap it all up, Mike Pence decided to weigh in last night, with this little gem of a tweet:
Could he think of nothing else to say about Black History Month other than “Lincoln freed the slaves”? Is that really all they know about black history? How basic. Apparently the administration didn’t get the memo that black history didn’t end (or begin) in 1865. They obviously also don’t know that while February 1 is indeed the date that marks the signing of the resolution that proposed the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery, most black folks generally celebrate the end of slavery on June 19, also known as Juneteenth. June 19 was the day that the last enslaved persons were actually freed—which, for some of us, is far more significant than the day a piece of paper was signed but not ratified.
It’s a good thing that no one is looking to this administration for actual knowledge, because they won’t get any. But watching them stumble their way through the rest of the month just may prove to be fun.
Source: http://dailykos.com
