Op-ed by Rev. Napoleon Harris V
“Young folks have a saying: Keep that same energy. You say it when someone isn’t behaving consistently or they aren’t applying the same gusto to one thing as they are to another.”
On July 11 former POTUS Donald J. Trump will be sentenced. He presently stands convicted of 34 Class E felonies. He is the first former president to be a felonious criminal. Trump’s presidency, From his first campaign through his election, his administration, his reluctant release of the office after losing his re-election bid, and now to his third bid for the Oval Office, his presence on the national scene has been tattooed with polarizing controversy. His conviction continues that divisiveness as his supporters on the right claim the system is rigged and opponents on the liberty left claim justice has finally been served.
Regardless of one’s political persuasion, we as a nation should pause and consider the significance of this moment.
To begin, we must speak the honest-to-God truth about what Trump did. As Rev. Dr. Marvin McMickle points out, “The crime was not a tawdry one-night stand with a porn star. The crime was not paying hush money. The crime was election interference as Trump sought to keep the voting public from knowing about this aspect of his character.”
All attempts to camouflage Trump’s inappropriate behavior are untenable, morally repugnant, and reprehensible. Many conservative voters have thundered like God from Mt. Sinai over amoral or personal matters but are now as silent as church mice on this clear and criminal behavior. Now is not the time to bury one’s “holy” heads in the blind sands of indifference we need to keep that same energy on this criminal matter.
Trump’s criminology is nothing to boast about. In a nation as divided as we are along lines of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious views, class, and political affiliation, the last thing we need is any activity that widens the borders that keep us siloed and separated. In recreational sports we tell our children not to boast and to have class; we adults should keep that same energy in the sport of politics.
Finally, all of us should be ashamed that the real conversation to be had in this moment is being ignored: the rights of returning citizens. It is unfortunate for Trump that his devious felonious activities got him convicted. But he is very fortunate that his conviction will not be the same lifelong death sentence it is for the average American.
For the rest of us, a felony makes us unfit for jury duty and voting in many jurisdictions. [The formerly incarcerated can vote in Ohio.] When average Americans are convicted of a felony, they cannot qualify for government assistance in housing or federal student aid. After a felony conviction the average American has difficulty finding meaningful work, making a living, making a life. These realities make recidivism more probable than not.
Those Americans who can still see Mr. Trump as presidential should also be able to see the average American felon as worthy of a second chance, with supported re-entry into our society.
America, it is imperative that we keep that same energy and commute the lifelong death sentences imposed on every other returning citizen lest we be found as hypocrites.
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Rev. Napoleon Harris V is senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland.
