Herr Trump — The face of hate
Republican front-runner Donald Trumps’ message of racism and xenophobia has now taken a foreseeable violent turn given the videos we’ve seen lately of Black people—and others of conscience—being bullied and attacked at Trump rallies with his blessings.
The images, coming out of Chicago, last Friday, give us an ominous insight of what a Donald Trump America would look like: outbreaks of violence between racial, religious and political groups from opposite sides of these spectrums.
Mr. Trump has talked about making “America great again.” But isn’t he really encouraging White America to hate again?
On Friday, Trump cancelled his slated Chicago rally after it became clear protest opposition to his candidacy would be larger than anything he has witnessed so far. Many in Chicago came out in force to protest his race-baiting prejudiced propaganda. In doing so, they were exercising their First Amendment right.
But that concept is something Trump, and many of his regressively racist supporters can’t seem to countenance. Over the course of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly thrown out those protesters who have dared to show up at his rallies. It’s obvious this charlatan has no respect for the First Amendment.
In classic Trump spin, this serial liar decided to blame Bernie Sanders for the breakdown of civility we witnessed on Friday.
As Senator Sanders said Trump is a “pathological liar.”
First of all, Senator Sanders isn’t the one we see, on video, in Nevada, saying “I’d like to punch him in the face?” And wasn’t it Trump who talked loving about the good “old days” when people were carried out stretchers? That sentiment is something Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke—who endorsed Trump—no doubt loves.
Trump’s race-baiting tactics are now playing out before us.
During Super Tuesday, video emerged of a young Black woman being assaulted and pushed in Kentucky. In Georgia, at Valdosta State University, a group of Black students—who attend that university—were removed apparently because the Trump campaign assumed they were about to protest against Trump. This from a man who claims he has good relations with “the Blacks.”
Then there is the criminal assault we witnessed when 78-year-old John McGraw sucker punched Rakeem Jones, in North Carolina, on March 9. To add insult to injury, after he was attacked Jones was then tackled by officers apparently from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Officer.
The Cumberland County Sheriff did not arrest the assailant, McGraw, until the next day—the widely seen video perhaps had much to do with forcing them to make that arrest.
The criminal assault on Rakeem Jones was played on a continuous media loop for days after that attack last week. But this past Sunday, Trump went on NBC’s Meet The Press and pretended the tape didn’t show the obvious unprovoked assault of Mr. Jones. Then he announced that it was possible that he would pay the legal fees of McGraw—who clearly committed a crime.
Trump’s actions show he has no sense of decency—and respect for the concept of lawful decorum. The fact that someone running for the U.S. Presidency can so wantonly encourage violence, and is being supported by so many, destroys the myth of America being a “post racial” society. Bigotry is now totally taking over the Republican Party.
For decades the GOP has been palling around and coddling racists. In recent times, many Republicans have tried to use more subtle language to couch those racist sentiments that have found a fertile home in their party. And now many of these elements of the Republican base —with all their aggrieved White men, who claimed they are being oppressed by the evil government and the Black President Barack Obama—have chosen a recklessly racist Richie Rich kid to represent them.
Trump’s phony “Birther” birth paper attacks on President Obama—where he questioned the citizenship of the 44 president—is no doubt one of the starting points to his current political ascension. Many of these same people going to these rallies—giving Hitler salutes and such—were no doubt cheering when Trump was using the media to make a spectacle of President Obama. Trump clearly understood that his denigration of President Obama was helping him win favor among White racists all across America.
Many in media are now talking about the anger of the White working-class electorate. But what these folks don’t want to honestly talk about is the seething palpable prejudice that underpins this anger. These people can’t seem to find the spine to admit that this White anger is not just about economic issues.
This is not to say that the economic situation is no a component of that anger. However, historically, at many moments of economic anxiety, prejudice and racism have always been used by establishment elites to divert White America from the main source of these problems.
It was always the fault of those “other” people—usually African-Americans—for why the American economy was struggling.
In the current context, there are now a lot of those “other” people: Blacks, Latinos, and Muslims etc. In recent years, the scapegoating attacks have expanded to include Muslims and Latinos.
All this idiocy about building a wall to keep Mexicans out is really a broader attack against all Latinos, whether they be undocumented immigrants, legal residents, or, in fact, American-born citizens. Many will claim they only care about the law-breaking of undocumented immigrants.
If all this hullabaloo is just about law breaking, why aren’t these same people clamoring for the prosecutions of politicians who took the nation into war based on lies?
Racism is a tool elites and their politicians have always used to shift responsibility for the economic inequality they flourish on. Does anyone seriously believe politicians couldn’t stop illegal immigration if they really wanted too? But why should they—when it helps them further the economic exploitation of the American worker?
Imagine, Mr. Trump is a job outsourcer and has reportedly used illegal immigrants in his businesses. How dumb can people be to think someone like this is now going to bring back jobs to America and fight illegal immigration—when these things have been so good to his bottom line? And why aren’t these establishment media people asking Trump if he has stopped using undocumented labor, and stopped shipping jobs to China, now that he is running for president?
Unfortunately, the media is the main enabler of this charlatan. Recently, CBS CEO Les Mooves said “for us, economically, Donald’s place in this election is a good thing.” He also added that this “may not be good for America, but its damn good for CBS…The money is rolling in, this is fun.”
Apparently, making money is more important than preserving democracy from a racist demagogue.
The racist rise of Trump will probably have negative consequence regardless of what happens next. Because even if he never gets near the White House he now has untold numbers of brain-dead hardcore racists who can easily be manipulated by him to do serious damage. The stuff we’ve seen so far is just a prelude of things to come.
This dictatorial opportunist is now talking about riots in the streets—if he doesn’t receive the Republican nomination. What he is really doing here are two things. First, he is signaling to his blind sheep that it is alright to threaten Republican Party leaders—many of whom are now plotting to stop him from receiving the requisite delegate count that automatically secures the nomination.
The second thing he is doing is letting his bigoted base know that it will be alright to riot in the streets if he doesn’t receive said nomination.
Is this the kind of person Republicans want representing them? Donald Trump is not qualified to make “America great again.”
Unfortunately he is encouraging America to hate again.
