By Erik Cork and Jo-Carolyn Goode

If you want a president that cares about Black lives, you must first have a president that cares. And it is painfully obvious that the only thing Donald Trump cares about is…himself.

America has had a long painful, hurtful, and shameful history with racism. Over the years the way it has been done has changed making some think racism had been erased from the fabric of this county. However, those who have been victimized by its ugly face know all too well that racism is very much alive. Instead of banning people of color from voting, stricter requirements were put in place like the enforcement of voter ID laws. White men walk around free after killing unarmed Black men while jails across the country are overcrowded with Black men serving sentences that don’t match the crime. Black men are not being hung from trees by white men hiding behind sheets but are just openly killed in broad daylight in front of anyone watching and recording. This is America in which we live.

What does the president have to say about this America? Absolutely nothing. Well, let me be fair. He has praised those on the other side of the violence for being “good people.” He also has said he felt terrible for anybody that goes through that referring to shooting of Jacob Blake at a Kenosha peaceful protest. He hopes “they come up with the right answer." Excuse me but isn’t that supposed to be your job?

No other president has ever had the lack luster response that this president has had. The New York Times pointed out the differences between Trump and his predecessors.

In 1991, a video was seen round the world of Rodney King being brutally beaten by Los Angeles police officers that left him with permanent brain damage. A then-President George Bush responded by saying, “Those terrible scenes stir us all to demand an end to gratuitous violence and brutality. Law enforcement officials cannot place themselves above the law that they are sworn to defend.” He went on to add that it sickened him.

President Bill Clinton saw many incidents of police brutality with one of the biggest newsmakers being the death Amadou Diallo, who shot 19 times by four New York police officers. Clinton was very blunt with his response. “I don’t pretend for a moment to second-guess the jury. But I know most people in America of all races believe that if it had been a young white man in an all-white neighborhood, it probably wouldn’t have happened.”

The violence continued under President Barack Obama's administration with the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the St. Emanuel Church members at Bible Study. President Obama recognized that it was not a “matter of us comparing the value of lives.” He continued, “This is recognizing that there is a particular burden that is being placed on a group of our fellow citizens. And we should care about that. We can’t dismiss it.”

Now we roll into Trump’s America with the murders of Stephon Clark, Botham Jean, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Now we have Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back while his three children watched and he is now paralyzed. Adding more insult to this senseless crime in the murder of two and serious injury of one during a peaceful protest a after 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse opened fired on the crowd in the name of “defending himself” and “protecting his property.”

Since this incident, Trump has not given a response that showed any empathy. His silence is making others believe that it is ok to hide behind their badges. It is ok to fund the defense of people who murder individuals because of their skin color. It is something that one writer, Erik Cork, calls “whitewash worship.”

To WHITE EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS: Take an honest, hard look at yourselves in the mirror. Your six-figure financial support of cold-blooded killer, Kyle Rittenhouse, who showed up in Kenosha with the intent to murder peaceful protestors, REVEALS your evil & satanically inspired racism.

Your twisted & tortured logic that pervades the empty hearts of your prejudiced parishioners & so-called "people of faith" shows the mean-spirited & maniacal obsession of "preservation & protection of race" in the diabolical minds of members in your cocky congregations who feel justified donating dollars to yet another Dylan Roof.

It REVEALS you have zero compassion for people of color. It absolutely DEMONSTRATES (without a doubt) that you worship your WHITENESS, your PRIVILEGE & your ill-gotten POWER throughout history & time.

Your continued contributions & your abysmal actions show that you AGREE with your divisive & demented president & bigoted Republicans that "Kyle The Patriotic Kid" was just "defending himself" & the property of local strangers he couldn't care less about- by showing up in a sea of heartbroken protestors with an AR-15 assault rifle.

Did you praise God when police on the scene applauded him & gave him fresh cold water to drink as a reward for the bigoted bullets he fired into a crowd of people who are sick & tired of being "sick & tired of being victims" of excessive force & police brutality?

Do you dance in the aisles of your pristine temples when arrogant police REFUSE to peacefully de-escalate civil disagreements when Black folks are involved? Do you pray for the police to show restraint when a minority motorist has the NERVE to ask a White law enforcement officer a simple question?

Your financial support for a smiling assassin PROOVES that you pretend & profess to have "color-blindness" that is disingenuous & untrue - because you are doing a horrible job of real justice. You are putting forth a hypocritical display of HATE and/or apathetic INDIFFERENCE toward Blacks - as opposed to honoring the love & compassion of Jesus Christ.

It is apparently & excruciatingly OBVIOUS that you White Evangelical so-called "Christians" identify yourselves more with the Ku Klux Klan & neo-Nazis than you do with equality, freedom, liberty & justice FOR ALL.

Your genocidal generosity & your unwavering support for a ruthless teenaged killer SHOWS you have severe difficulty in comprehending & understanding - let alone embracing, endorsing & preaching in your pulpits & public social media platforms of White worship that when someone says "BLM," we are NOT talking about a "movement." We are talking about our ACTUAL LIVES. The people he killed looked like YOU, but they had to courage & compassion to show support for Black Lives actually MATTERING. Your MONEY is a blood trail of EVIDENCE showing the world that your allegiance is to WHITENESS - and not RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Let that sink in... then pray for your own sinister souls to be saved from your own selfish WRETCHEDNESS each time you donate to a GoFundMe for a cruel & callus kid who SHOT PEOPLE in the face - POINT BLANK.

Ladies and gentlemen this is why we ALL must vote come November 3rd. If we want to make America the greatest it can be, we have to first elect a man who can be great and do great things. Go Vote!