Ice Cube in a Money Mold

Human beings are moldable, but to different degrees. It is as if some of us are blocks of ice and others blocks of glass. Both can be melted down and reshaped, but by varied degrees of force. Like a block of ice, some of us can be broken down and remolded easily. Trump’s current stance on the value of the African Museum of American History and Culture exemplifies the easy melting of ice men. He currently argues that the Smithsonian is engaged in a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our nation’s history,” and that many of the exhibits housed in the phenomenal building designed by David Adjaye must go (as cited by Barrow). Eight years ago, speaking after his first visit to the mammoth exhibit hall, Trump sung a different tune, stating that he was “deeply proud that we now have a museum that honors the millions of African American men and women who built our national heritage, especially when it comes to faith, culture and the unbreakable American spirit” (as cited by Barrow). Countless other contradictions can be found in the simplest search of Trump’s takes on all matter of matters.

Why does Trump act more like a block of ice that readily melts into the shape of the cup in which it puddles while the Dalai Lama more resembles the glass cookie jar on your countertop that appears just the same today as it did yesterday and as it will tomorrow? 

I think it is related to the two men’s senses of self, purpose, and values. A man who can quickly name three things he believes in is probably a block of glass. His lens is directed primarily towards his heart and soul when deciding how to show up in the world. It takes something like strong and repeated empirical evidence, a significant health scare, or a jolting moral awakening to melt his glass down and reshape it for a new purpose. The man who can not name three things he believes in off the top of his head looks not to his personal nucleus, but to outside sources to dictate his thoughts and behaviors. While ice blocks appear strong and solid, they melt and remold easily because of this lack of connection to their core selves. External appeals to ego, money, power, luxury, and status act as powerful blow torches, blasting ice blocks into formless water that pours easily into new molds, one after another, over and over again. 

Glass blocks are good at supporting each other in keeping strong and solid when sensible, and melting down into more beautiful and useful shapes when required. We are not as good at supporting ice blocks in locating, strengthening, and trusting their inner cores. It seems a worthy skill to improve upon, and although I don’t know exactly how we might do that, I’m pretty sure the answer involves love and respect. 

Barrow, Bill. “Critics See Trump Attacks on the ‘Black Smithsonian’ as an Effort to Sanitize Racism in US History” Associated Press.