Baltimore Bridge Tragedy, DEI, Immigration and the Crude Manifestation of Racist and Xenophobic Politics!
Leave it up to the political right to attempt to make a cheap attempt to politically, as well as perversely, capitalize off human tragedy. For most people, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26 was a disaster of horrific proportions. Americans across the political spectrum expressed their sorrow and prayers for the victims, as well as their families. In contrast, for many in the bombastic world of right-wing conservatism, it presented an opportunity to partake in one of their favorite hobbies: inject racism into a topical issue.
Simultaneously, as first responders frantically plunged into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River, looking for survivors, the right-wing machine was using the tragedy to further agitate its ongoing xenophobic and bigoted campaign toward immigrants and the perceived albatross of “wokeism.” Users–boosted by the site’s algorithm — shared videos of Brandon Scott, the Black, 39-year-old mayor of Baltimore, with racist dog whistles. This is Baltimore’s DEI mayor commenting on the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge,” wrote one user with over 250,000 followers. “It’s going to get so, so much worse. Prepare accordingly.” On X (formerly Twitter), Anthony Sabatini, a Republican congressional candidate in Florida, posted…
