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The beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency has regrettably been marked by one of the most deadly and tragic U.S. aviation disasters since 2001: the Jan. 29 Washington, D.C., plane collision.
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As someone who’s terrified of flying, I cannot imagine the fear that passengers of American Airlines flight 5342 must’ve felt leading up to the collision with the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. Such a catastrophe is so devastating for all parties and families involved with the 67 people on board, all of whom are presumed dead.
Each passenger had an intricate story, life and background. Figure skater Brielle Beyer had just celebrated her 12th birthday with her mom, Justyna Magdalena Beyer; flight attendant Danasia Elder was an entrepreneur and mom of two; Capt. Rebecca Lobach, a co-pilot of the Black Hawk, also served as a White House military social aide. These are only a few stories out of the handfuls on that plane — all will remain half-written.
In times like these, our country feels fragile. This is a normal reaction. Some may want to curl into themselves and hide within their lives, paralyzed about using a reliable mode of transportation that suddenly feels so breakable.
Others may grasp at theories, making judgments and statements — ones that have no intellectual basis or proof — about the Black Hawk and those involved in the crash. But many just want an authoritative figure to acknowledge how tragic and disruptive this moment feels. We should have been united in grief and, therefore, united in empathy.
But arguably, the most authoritative figure right now couldn’t unite us with empathy because he couldn’t find it within himself.
When asked whether he would visit the site of the plane crash, as many presidents have done for tragedies in the past, Trump said this: “I have a plan to visit, not the site. Because you tell me, what’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming?”
It truly does not matter if Trump had plans to meet with the families of the victims somewhere else besides the site. By making a joke at their expense, in a moment when their families likely feel so lost and empty, he clearly does not have any empathy deeper than the minimum amount required to save face. If he truly did feel empathy for those involved, he would not have made such a disgusting, ignorant joke about an action that explicitly displays empathy.
This is further proven by Trump’s belligerent slander of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within the Federal Aviation Administration and D.C. air traffic control, saying he thought the crash “just could have been” caused by diversity practices in hiring.
When asked for his proof or logic behind such a claim, he said this: “Because I have common sense, OK? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this. … Certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior, and that’s what we’re going to have.”
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To briefly explain, DEI programs were created so that marginalized communities that have been historically given unequal opportunities in employment or workplaces are more included, protected and promoted in workplaces where these groups have been overlooked. It also ensures a diverse working environment representative of different identities and perspectives.
Recently, and especially in Trump-era republicanism, DEI has become a buzzword of sorts. Trump has turned a crucial and important policy, not to mention a historical one — yes, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is DEI — into an attack on job qualification and an attack on white people. He and many of his supporters see a program that gives equity to all applicants or employees as a program that takes equity away from white people. For this reason, Trump has vowed many times to eliminate DEI.
Choosing to use the D.C. plane crash as a promotion for his anti-DEI platform is disgusting. This should be a bipartisan belief because innocent deaths are not political. Why has such a tragedy been so intensely and immediately politicized? It fills me with sadness and rage that this is how the victims will be commemorated by their president. He used their names and their stories not even a week after their deaths to spread convictions full of hate and inequality.
Considering we’ve only seen about three weeks of the second Trump presidency, I am astounded by the amount of apathy he has displayed in such little time. Even in moments that require grief and empathy, united and indivisible, he cannot put being a human before being a politician.
Many presidents in the past have been able to exist as both at once, showing empathy and authenticity in, at times, an inauthentic role. The fact that Trump has to choose between humanity and politics — and continually, intentionally chooses wrong — will be a common story and defining factor these next four years.
Reach Emma Souza at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @_emmasouza.
