"In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist - we must be antiracist."
~ Angela Davis
There has been much debate and controversy about Donald Trump and his racist tendencies.
Some argue, of course, that he is not racist at all. That he is fair, that indeed, both sides were to blame in Charlottesville, Virginia, just like President Trump suggested, even when white supremacists were clearly caught on tip bringing weapons and armor, gearing up for a fight. He himself would be quick to point out that he condemned both sides, including the racist side, although it took him long enough to criticize white nationalists by name that it made many of his fellow Republicans, and seemingly even prominent members of his own administration, very uncomfortable.
Yet, he is damn quick to condemn mostly black athletes who are peacefully protesting racial injustice in this country, calling them "sons of bitches" and loudly proclaiming that they should be fired!
Of course, many dismiss that, too, just like they dismiss, or in some cases very conveniently overlook, how he said Mexicans as rapists and criminals, or how he clearly targets and demonizes Muslims, and how he belittles women. In fact, there seems to be only one group that this pathetic excuse for a man, let alone our supposed "leader," is not quick to condemn, and that would be white males. Particularly those white males who agree with him and support him.
Still, many are not entirely convinced that he actually has racist tendencies, and they argue and contest and over-analyze everything. Perhaps because he is not outright calling blacks "niggers" or calling outright for all Mexicans and/or Muslims to be deported or doing straight arm salutes, that he is, in fact, just fine, and not really racist. And they get angry if anyone insinuates that he does indeed seem to have racist tendencies.
So let's take a look at what he actually said about, say, Mexicans, during the 2016 presidential campaign:
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
This was the controversial quote, and many called it racist, although his supporters seem to feel that it is not. However, if you look at the quote, you would get the distinct impression that Mexican immigration is an evil plot by the higher ups in Mexico to get rid of their worst people, and bring them to the United States, like it is an official policy of the Mexican government. Also, that seems to imply that all the people from Mexico now living in the United States are indeed criminals and racists who are bringing drugs. And then, kind of passively, he suggests that maybe, some are actually okay, although he does not seem too sure about this. He sure seems to have no doubts that the vast majority of them do indeed fit those horrendous labels, that they are, for all intents and purposes, terrible people. As for his one concession that they are not all bad? Well, even then, he seems to be catering to a racist audience who, in fact, feel that Hispanics in general, and Mexicans in particular, indeed are all exactly how Trump has described them here.
Now, more recently, I noticed a post from a former coworker and current Facebook friend, and apparently major Trump supporter, who kind of illustrated this kind of dishonest racism by an angry white man - and I would definitely suggest that he fits the bill of being an angry white man. In fact, his anger was kind of a running joke when we worked together, but these days, with Trump in power, I am not longer joking or laughing. His anger is what I find that is so wrong in this country, and his inability to pierce through the veneer of what Trump wants him and other supporters to see and believe, rather than to see Trump for what he clearly is (a con artist and a phony), is no laughing matter, as far as I am concerned.
Anyway, this guy posted this on Facebook:
"If we are removing "To kill (sic) a Mockingbird" due to the use of "N" word, how many rap albums are going with it?"
Now, aside from the fact that I personally am dead set against censorship and pulling books from the bookshelves of libraries (especially books like "To Kill a Mockingbird"), and also forgetting for a moment that the music which blacks listen to is no longer called rap, the fact of the matter is that this particular question is not all that perplexing. In "To Kill a Mockingbird," the novel portrays racism as something very much alive, and the "n word" is used by racist whites to degrade and dehumanize blacks, while when hip hop artists, or rap artists if you will, use that term, it is meant to take away the power of that poisoned word. It is meant to make it sort of a joke, and as such, it is a means to empower blacks who obviously would be offended by that word when it is indeed said by a white.
Yet, people like this - like my friend and former coworker, would take exception - possibly violent exception - to being called racist.
Late night comedian Trevor Noah, who himself has an interesting take on racism, having been born and raised in South Africa during the days when apartheid was still the law of the land, weighed in on this. I tried to find the video on Youtube so that I could place it here, but was unable to find it, and was unable to embed it here. However, I added the link to BBC Newsnight, where you can see the video clip (see the bottom of the page), and I also added quotes that show just how deeply he pierced this problem and pegged the casual racism that he sees as persistent in Trump's America:
"America is the kind of place where someone can get more offended at you calling them a racist than at the fact that they are racist. And that's become like a new thing that I've stumbled across. They go, how dare you call me racist? And I go, well how dare you be racist. And that's the world that Donald Trump is in. People try and trap you into being afraid of saying what the person is doing, as opposed to them being afraid of acknowledging the world that they're living in."
~ Trevor Noah
Some Trump supporters really were not, and are not, racist. Sure, there are plenty of Trump supporters who clearly are, and are, as Bush recently said, emboldened in their racism and feel that they have an ally in Trump. But not all Trump supporters are racist.
However, all Trump supporters at least seem to be willing to give him a pass whenever he does seem to lean towards racist tendencies and behaviors that have many minorities in this country feeling decidedly uncomfortable and unwelcome. They were willing to overlook his racist attitudes and arguments, willing to overlook his sexism, and his overall crass and disgusting behavior and attitude. Not all Trump supporters are racist or sexist, but the ability of all Trump supporters to overlook these disturbing trends suggests that they also seem to dismiss any notion that racism and sexism are big problems in this country, and they refer to people who stand up against the president's racism and sexism as "snowflakes" or even question how American they are.
And that is the problem. On many levels, I believe that Trump is worse than McCarthyism was, and made all the more extreme because most people indeed believe that we live in supposedly more enlightened times, when we really should know better (but apparently do not).
One thing that Trump has reiterated time and time again is this notion that the whole world is laughing at the United States. They are laughing because, he suggests, we got a bad deal that we nonetheless signed up for the Paris Accord (as if this global accord was one big, elaborate scheme to screw the United States), and they are laughing at us because we signed a bad deal with Iran, and they are laughing at us if we do not stand up to North Korea (apparently, the most appropriate response is to threaten them with nuclear annihilation, because what can possibly go wrong?).
Yes, Trump keeps telling his supporters, angrily, that the world does not respect the United States, and in fact, is laughing at us. And in fact, these days, that very well might be true, on some level. But it is not for the reasons that Trump supporters think. In fact, they are laughing at us because we elected a clown to represent us for the next four years. They are laughing because we believe him, even when he has an extensive history of being a con artist and a liar. They are laughing at us because we want to believe what we want to believe, collectively, instead of certain irrefutable truths that are right in front of us, yet somehow manage to be the best kept secrets in this country (such as that every other industrialized nation in the world has a far better and fairer - and cheaper - healthcare system than we do). They are laughing at us because we have become so addicted with patting ourselves on the back, that we will go to extraordinary lengths to fight anyone who wants people to look at the fact that we have serious problems to deal with, and not the fake problems that our fake president wants us to believe in. They are laughing at us because, by showing a willingness to elect a man like Donald Trump to represent us in the White House, we have shown a similarity to burying our head in the sand like an ostrich, and refusing to wake up and face the real world, preferring our own dream world. Indeed, Trump supporters are dreaming when they believe Trump to be the honorable and hugely successful man that they claim him to be. And if there are doubts about that, let me turn back to a quote taken from Paul Thomas of the New Zealand Herald that I have used fairly often here before, but which best sums up what the world truly thinks of President Donald Trump, and why there is such a disconnect between the rest of the world, and Americans who support him in strong enough numbers that he was entrusted with the highest office in the land:
“Trump personifies everything the rest of the world despises about America: casual racism, crass materialism, relentless self-aggrandizement, vulgarity on an epic scale. He is the Ugly American in excelsis.”
Here are the articles that I used in writing this blog, particularly using their quotes:
The greatest threat to America? Republicans by Paul Thomas of the New Zealand Herald, 17 Jul, 2015:
Donald Trump’s false comments connecting Mexican immigrants and crime By Michelle Ye Hee Lee July 8, 2015:
To view the video:
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