By Shamecca Brown-Granite State News Collaborative
There are moments when I sit back, listen to the news, and I’m not just shocked anymore. I’m scared.
The other night, my 13-year-old son looked at me wide-eyed and said, “Mommy, how does he get to talk like this? People laugh and think it’s funny. I wouldn’t want people thinking it’s OK to talk like that to me or anyone. This is scary.”
I looked at him, and I got a cold chill. Because he’s right.
And in that moment, all I could think was, what is this world coming to? If this is the direction we’re heading in, then we are in trouble. I can feel the shift. I can feel the racism coming strong, and it doesn’t sit right in my spirit.
On April 5, 2026, President Trump posted a message about Iran that included profanity, a direct threat, and the phrase “Praise be to Allah.” Let me say that again: profanity, threats and religious language, all in one public message.
If I spoke like that at work, I would be fired. Immediately. No warning. No second chances. Yet somehow, this is acceptable when it comes from someone who holds the highest office in this country.
That’s the part that doesn’t make sense to me.
Because when people in power speak like that, it doesn’t just stay online. It doesn’t just disappear after the headline fades. It trickles down. It lands in classrooms, in workplaces, in homes. It reaches kids – like mine – who are still trying to understand what respect even looks like.
I’m a mother, a grandmother, an advocate. I’ve worked with families, with survivors, with people trying to rebuild their lives after trauma. I’ve sat with individuals who already feel like they don’t belong – because of their race, their background, their religion, or just the way they exist in this world. So when I hear language that feels disrespectful or careless toward a group of people, especially tied to religion, it doesn’t feel political to me.
It feels personal. Because I’ve seen what words can do.
I’ve lived it myself, as a Black woman from Queens now working in New Hampshire, often being the only one in the room who looks like me. I know what it feels like to be watched, judged, or misunderstood before even speaking.
So when someone in leadership speaks recklessly, I don’t hear “free speech.” I hear permission. Permission for others to talk like that. Permission for people to laugh it off. Permission for disrespect to become normal. And that’s dangerous.
Because here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud: there is a double standard.
People like me are expected to show up with professionalism every single day. We are expected to watch our tone, our words, our body language. In my line of work, respect isn’t optional, it’s required.
And I agree with that. So why do we expect more from everyday workers than we do from national leaders?
Leadership is not just about decisions. It’s about example. It’s about tone. It’s about how you speak about people, especially people who are different from you.
And our kids are watching who gets corrected and who gets excused. They’re watching what behavior is accepted and what behavior comes with consequences.
Right now, what they’re seeing is this: If you have power, you can say what you want, and people will laugh, defend you, or ignore it. That’s not the lesson I want my son, or any child, to learn. Because once we normalize disrespect, we normalize division. And we are already living in a time where people feel divided enough.
This isn’t about politics. This is about humanity. It’s about asking: What kind of leadership are we willing to accept?
Because if this is the standard, if this is what we’re OK with, then we have to be honest about what we’re teaching the next generation. And until we start holding people accountable for the words they use, we’re going to keep teaching the wrong lesson about respect, about power, and about what it really means to lead.
Shamecca Brown is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.