All three networks on Inauguration Day played a 90 minute special devoted to praising America and patriotism. And while one can question timing of the special (this didn’t happen four years ago), the content was positive and patriotic. ABC and NBC mostly used the half hour prior to the special with panels. CBS, however, offered a segment on how racism may finally be ending now that Joe Biden is president.
Reporter Peter Van Sant re-interviewed children the network talked to during Donald Trump’s presidency. These kids were either undocumented or minorities. Apparently, though, bigotry is now finished. Talking to one girl, Van Sant lectured, “But Norah says everything feels different about inauguration day this time around.” Norah added, “Hopefully Biden can make us minorities feel safer living here in America.”
Without using the word liberal, O’Donnell linked it to Biden’s immigration policy:
President Biden has a long to do list and near the top is immigration. On his first day in office, he lifted the Muslim travel ban. He is proposing a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented people. And he's expected to take action to help reunite migrant families separated at the border Welcome news for many immigrants and their children.
Talking to another girl, Van Sant pushed the idea of our bright new future:
LARISSA: It taught me to trust more in people in my community. I am actually very full of hope. And I'm very excited for what's to come because I really think the change is fast approaching.
PETER VAN SANT: The younger teenagers also feel that change is in the air. And hope the new administration can lead us out of the dark days of division.
Racism and discrimination are, obviously, real issues in the United States. But it’s typical of how partisan most American journalists are. We now have a Democrat as president, so racism has been banished.
The ridiculous suggestion about the end of racism was sponsored by Gold Bond. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
One Nation: Indivisible
1/20/2021
8:24 PM ETNORAH O’DONNELL: President Biden has a long to do list and near the top is immigration. On his first day in office, he lifted the Muslim travel ban. He is proposing a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented people. And he's expected to take action to help reunite migrant families separated at the border Welcome news for many immigrants and their children.
...
PETER VAN SANT: Their faces said it all. It was 2017 and these fifth graders were afraid. They were 10 and 11 years old and Donald Trump was about to become president.
...
VAN SANT: Norah, whose parents are from Indonesia, says the last four years under Mr. Trump have been difficult.
NORAH: I have been living in fear. It made me feel unsafe as a Muslim woman living here
in America.VAN SANT: But Norah says everything feels different about inauguration day this time around.
NORAH: Hopefully Biden can make us minorities feel safer living here in America.
VAN SANT: 14-year-old Lynn who was visiting her grandparents in Togo West Africa when we interviewed her said she is haunted by television images of the Trump administration's tough border policy.
LYNN: You’ll see people on the news, being separated from their parents. Being put in cages. I feel like that's something a kid should never have to go through.
VAN SANT: Those images also deeply affected Larissa Martinez. Four years ago she was a proud high school valedictorian headed to Yale University on full scholarship. It was then she shared a deep secret.
LARISSA: I am one of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows of the United States.
VAN SANT: Larissa flew from Mexico to Texas in 2010 with her mother and sister who are still undocumented. Today Larissa is a Yale graduate, married to a U.S. citizen.
LARISSA: Four years ago I went up there with a purpose of asking people to recognize my humanity and the humanity of people in my community. But now four years later, I see that it is about accountability. The Trump years brought a lot of clarity for me in terms of what it is that we are up against. How bad it can really get.
VAN SANT: But Larissa also believes the past four years have brought the country to a reckoning about racism and inequality that she says is long overdue.
LARISSA: It taught me to trust more in people in my community. I am actually very full of hope. And I'm very excited for what's to come because I really think the change is fast approaching.
VAN SANT: The younger teenagers also feel that change is in the air. And hope the new administration can lead us out of the dark days of division.
