The morning of inauguration day my grandma called me and asked if I was wearing my chucks and pearls. Of course, I had no idea that that was and swiftly googled it seeing that it was to celebrate the new VP. It is a historic moment to have a Vice President who is mixed race, but the inauguration does not spark hope in me. The grandiose displays put on by the capitol very shortly after botching the persecution of several white terrorists represents the government’s favor when it comes to white individuals. The Black Lives Matter protests of the summer were met with pepper spray, violence, and death. However when we view the way the domestic terrorists were carefully controlled by the police it was much more passive than their engagements with black individuals, especially during peaceful protests. Every four years the United States government puts on this grand display to welcome the new president that is similar to what we would see in an oligarchy with the grand military displays and full band, it just seems unnecessary for a civil servant.
This seems like the type of event and grandeur that would be reserved for a royal family that the American government isn’t supposed to have; however, Amid a pandemic with thousands starving and not able to provide for themselves or their families, everyone is supposed to put all of those issues to the side celebrate with grandiose illusions of the rich. They do this to try and put a fresh timeline on things and give people hope as well as proverbially hitting the reset button, however, the thousands or even millions of dollars being waived in the collective American face does not seem like the best investment of tax dollars. The American public is happy about the distraction because of the past four years and what a wreck they have been. Americans are happy to use the inauguration as an excuse to celebrate; however This is a celebration for the citizenry because the government has been completely docile and inefficient during Trump’s four-year rampage and destruction of the US, they allowed him to do whatever he wanted without the support of the American people. Therefore I believe that the rich and powerful do not need a day to celebrate the change of power, the American people do deserve that yes, but the rich and powerful should be at work restoring what has been broken. The new president should be focused on reconstruction.
I can feasibly see the cause for Obama’s inauguration because you get to see the way a black person would do the “fancy party” but there is no need for this celebration. Donald Trump had an inauguration and swore the same oath which makes the oath obsolete. They can say they will be for the people but the luxuries afforded to politicians no longer allow them to live in the same scope of the majority of the people they are supposed to be serving. The separation between classes and the erasure of the middle class makes the celebration that much more heinous. The rich are getting more wealthy and they use that wealth to buy politicians and maintain order the way the rich see fit. The inauguration is just a reminder of the power that the rich have over the nation. The national anthem has never resonated with me as a black individual, thus the manufactured sense of patriotism and pride in my nation is not something I’ve felt because the typical symbols of patriotism do not instill those feelings in me. Instead, it is seen as a mockery of the American working-class citizens. The president is supposed to be a representative of the average American and someone that the average American is supposed to look up to you however the President of the United States does not live the way the average American does. He is a part of the rich and is afforded many luxuries that separate him from the public and it is this display of wealth that contributes to the overwhelming lust for capital and money amongst Americans. Several celebrities and other politicians could hold similar events, however, this event is not supposed to be looked down upon because it is put on by the government.
HCXO