A lynching is defined as the unlawful murder of someone for an alleged crime without a trial.

President Donald Trump used this word to describe the preliminary hearing to determine if there should be an impeachment trial for his actions.

I wish I could say I didn’t see this coming, but this is the same person who said he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and still have the support needed to get into office. Question: Does the common sense a human possesses leave his brain through the UV rays of a tanning bed?

The history of lynching is long and deeply painful. According to the NAACP, between 1882-1968, there were 4,743 documented lynchings occurred and 3,446 of those lynchings were African Americans. While admittedly a quarter of those lynchings were of white people, none of them were born into the type of privilege that Donald Trump was.

“Lynchings were much more than hangings. Thousands of black men and women were beaten, tortured, and mutilated,” former African American history teacher Sandy Young said. “By the time the rope was placed around their necks, many were long dead. Innocence or guilt was immaterial. All it took was an accusation. A whisper.”

“This is not what is happening to the president, and it is wholly inappropriate for him to use the term ‘lynching’ for some perceived injustice,” Young added. “He will receive the benefit of due process and equal protection under the law-granted to all American citizens by the constitution. That is something that Emmett Till, Claude Neal, Mary Turner and countless others never received.”

It is in no way acceptable for an over-privileged white man, who has never struggled or had to fear for his life, to even think that he can associate an investigation that may lead to a trial with a lynching.

Yes, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden used the term 21 years ago to describe the Clinton impeachment hearing. But Biden, unlike Trump, recognized his privilege and acknowledged his wrongdoing in what the Washington Post called one of the few times he has offered a “complete apology.” Trump has offered no such apology and seems to feel justified in his use of the term.

At the end of the day, there are just some things you do not say out of respect for the history behind it.  America deserves a leader who will respect the history of its citizens instead of usurping it for his personal gain.