Trump’s racist post against the Obamas won’t strip me of my dignity

That content was racist, despicable and not only beneath the office of the presidency, but also far beneath common decency.

We refuse to sit silently while our people — or any other people — are treated in such a way.

It will not be accepted or forgotten.

Reject malicious attempts to distort our self-image

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

For centuries, Black Americans have endured vicious attempts to represent us as less than fully human. We’ve been systematically told that our bodies, our minds and our labor were of little to no value.

And many of our ancestors lost their lives in the fight to refute those lies.

Accordingly, seeing these images reemerge in the public square is beyond disappointing, but not beyond our willingness to confront hatred.

That said, we state in no uncertain terms that any and all attempts to strip us of our sense of dignity will fail.

We will not be moved by any malicious attempts to distort our self-image because we know full well that our dignity comes from the Creator. And he has placed it so deeply within our essence that no human hands have the reach to remove it.

Our dignity is not subject to prejudices or fallible opinions. It’s not for sale nor is it negotiable. Seasons and leaders will come and go, yet our God assures us that our dignity will remain.

Condemn hatred in all its forms unequivocally

In 1874, Rep. Richard H. Cain, one of first Black leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, stood up in that legislative body and said this in his speech called “A Nation of Croakers” around a civil rights bill that would pass the following year:

“I believe Almighty God has placed (the) races on this broad theater of activity, where thoughts and opinions are freely expressed … to develop every art and science that can advance the prosperity of the nation … and to develop this great idea that all men are the children of one Father. We are here to work out that grand experiment.”

If Cain’s words are to ring true, Americans, especially Christians, must unequivocally condemn hatred in all its forms and without exception.

May God carry us forward through this grand experiment “with liberty and justice for all.”

Justin Giboney, of Atlanta, is an ordained minister, an attorney and the president of The And Campaign, a Christian civic organization. He’s the author of “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around: How the Black Church’s Public Witness Leads Us out of the Culture War.”