MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — What was billed as a rally for racial equality, to coincide with President Donald Trump’s scheduled visit to Morgantown, turned into a platform addressing topics ranging from climate change to white privilege.
Morgantown Deputy Mayor Mark Brazaitis was among the speakers during the protest attended by about 20 people Wednesday afternoon outside the Mountainlair on West Virginia University’s campus. His comments started off discussing racial inequality but soon evolved into laundry list of progressive issues.
“We’re standing up for the people of Puerto Rico, the people of Houston, the people of the Caribbean, who have recently suffered the devastating effects of a changing climate, with warmer ocean waters turning fierce storms into cataclysms. We’re standing up so an every 500 years flood doesn’t turn into an every year flood,” Brazaitis stated.
Brazaitis’ comments switched gears and addressed refugees who are suffering from the “hatred and indifference of a nation that should be generous enough and certainly wealthy enough to offer love and welcome.”
He continued and blasted white privilege.
“Across the country there is a phenomena berthed in significant part by fear. Fear of what it means to be struggling in a country where certain people, mostly white people, mostly men are living the life of ‘Riley’ or ‘Bill O’Reilly’ with more money than they need for a thousand lifetimes and still they want more, tax cuts for themselves, no health insurance for us.”
Brazaitis insinuated that fear was a motivating factor those who voted for President Trump in the 2016 election.
“It’s easier to point a finger for one’s fears, fears of unemployment of a bleak future for one’s self or one’s family at someone who is not like you, than it is to point a finger at someone is like you, if only because he’s like you because he’s white, or maybe orange. No, he isn’t really like you at all because he is rich beyond belief and powerful beyond the worst nightmare.”
Wednesday’s gathering had been organized as a response to the president’s scheduled trip to Morgantown. The event went on as scheduled even after the president’s trip was cancelled.