It's not that a Trump presidency ever sounded less
than horrible to me, but it has taken disturbing racist turns that I really
need to get off my chest.
Maybe the first point to make is that no racism is
accidental. Individuals may not intend to imbibe it, but there are people who
have worked very hard at different times to separate the interests of poor
whites from poor people of color, to discredit any gains made by people of
color (often through outright destruction), and to roll back progress. Thomas
Dixon Jr. wrote a false novel about Reconstruction, and D. W. Griffith turned
it into a film. Woodrow Wilson re-segregated government departments that had
been integrated. Those are just a few examples that come to mind easily.
There is also a legacy of politicians perpetuating
those stereotypes - often cynically - to appeal to voters. Nixon and Reagan did
this with tough-on-crime/war-on-drugs campaigning and legislation.
It often used coded language. Being openly racist
stopped being acceptable in polite company, but you can say "urban",
"crime", and "welfare", and the message is received
(regardless of how many criminals and government aid recipients are white).
The GOP has held on tightly to their racist
dog-whistles, and building on them. They should not have been caught so off
guard by Trump's popularity. Yes, he dropped the veneer, but it was only a thin
veneer at best. It was equally easy to believe that Trump was simply not
intellectual or self-aware enough to see the value in maintaining any veneer.
Instead of tying illegal immigration closely to crime, he can just call Mexican
rapists. It got a laugh for Amy Schumer, so why shouldn't it work for him?
Trump's supporters respond to how honest he is, and
you could think that because he has dropped the code and is speaking openly
that is true, but he has adopted a whole new code. I guess the first warning
sign was when Trump compared Hillary Clinton to Angela Merkel:
I did think it was a strange way to go; Merkel
doesn't come up a lot in casual conversation. Apparently I only thought that
because I am not a white supremacist. They hate Merkel, so referencing her
strikes a chord with them.
Not long after that, Donald Trump Jr. referenced the
gas chambers. This is another phrase that resonates with white supremacists.
Jr. later denied that there was any Holocaust reference - and how typical of
the reporters to assume so - but he is also the one to send out memes with
Skittles and Pepe the Frog. The Skittles analogy offended a lot of people and
drew some good responses anyway, but what was easy to miss is that Skittles
have been a thing for white supremacists since Trayvon Martin's death.
It was still hard for me to believe that Trump Sr.
was such a devoted racist. Even something that vile still seemed to require
more depth than he has. I could buy that Trump Jr. is the committed white
supremacist, but that between his influence on one side and Putin's on the
other, there is a real nightmare world being created. Then this turned up:
This may do more to explain Trump than anything
else. His deep belief in the superiority of his genes could be why he thinks he
is smart and good at business despite a great quantity of evidence to the
contrary. It does seem primed to go right past narcissist onto sociopath, though
I suspect that is more nurture than nature. (Okay, both.)
But the scariest thing that brings me back to is
this:
This was posted before the Merkel comment, and it seemed
to ludicrous. I mean, I saw the logic, and it seemed like a more achievable
goal than winning the election, but still, could that really be his endgame?
Now I'm not sure. Trump is sowing hatred, and confidence that the hatred is
just. As he implies that his loss would be a sign of a rigged system, it
worries me.
A Trump victory was always going to be a disaster; I
never questioned that. It looks like he's working things so that disaster will
accompany his defeat as well.
His defeat still needs to happen, but it's a
concern.
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