When I created this image in January, 2017, shortly before the inauguration of Donald J Trump, some called its statement a pessimistic, alarmist exaggeration, a far too dark and cynical prophesy of America under Trump.
Now, 2 ½ years have passed. We no longer have to imagine the unimaginable…
* Refugee children getting ripped from their mothers’ arms, crammed into cages, and held indefinitely
* The president calling African countries shitholes, while pining for more immigrants from predominantly white countries
* The president repeatedly referring to asylum seekers as an invasion
* The president telling progressive congresswomen of color to go back where they came from, inspiring his followers to chant “Send Her Back!”
* Hate crimes and white nationalism on the rise, including…
* Twenty-two human beings targeted and murdered for the crime of shopping at Walmart while brown
* Racist, xenophobic manifestos from violent, rightwing extremists quoting and lauding the President of the United States
* Executive actions specifically designed to make seeking legal asylum nearly impossible
* The acting director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services justifying a policy to put legal immigration out of reach for everyone but the well-heeled by — WHAT? — daring to amend the sacred words engraved at the base of Lady Liberty
So, I was thinking it might be just about time for a reprise appearance.
My fellow Americans, please welcome her back!
That’s right! Heeeeere she izzzzzz… LADY BIGOTRY…
Tired of all the shouting, the toxicity? Sick of the tribal blame game? Want some reassurance that there are still nice people out there in this fractured nation? Step out of that echo chamber and tag along with “Gimpy Ol’ Norman” on his 900-mile walk home, from Southern California to the Central Oregon Coast. TREK: My Peace Pilgrimage in Search of a Kinder America, a memoir by Rand Bishop (aka Gimpy Ol’ Norman) now available in Kindle and Paperback editions.