Racism is nothing new—Trump has just pushed the limits.
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The disruptions that occurred this weekend at the latest Donald Trump rally (the rally was canceled) were the latest example of the disruptive aura and environment that the current frontrunner of the GOP has inspired. As Donald Trump continues his seemingly inevitable march toward the Republican nomination for President, it appears that all the searing hostility, bombast, anger, hate and resentment that has largely accompanied his campaign as exemplified by his most ardent supporters has followed suit.
This past weekend, we saw several White Trump protestors find themselves on the receiving end of Trump’s violent, unhinged goons.
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By now, a sizable number of people have seen the video of a 20 year old Black woman being attacked and under siege at a Trump rally in Louisville, Kentucky. The woman in question is 20 year old Shiya Nwaguma. Nwanguma is a college student who later informed reporters that she was kicked, punched at, had racist and sexist slurs hurled at her and was violently manhandled. A few days ago, an unabashed Trump supporter viciously elbowed anti-trump protestor and threatened to kill him at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The man in question, 78 year old john McGraw was arrested and charged with assault and battery and is currently in prison.
This is not the first time a person of color has been the victim of an assault at a Trump rally:
Last fall, a Latino man was spit upon by a diehard Trump supporter.
- A Muslim woman was escorted out of Trump rally last fall.
- Another Latino man was assaulted and thrown out of Trump rally as the crowd shouts USA! USA!
- We have been witness to a Black man being the victim of disgraceful violence at another Trump related event.
- Thirty Black Students at Valdosta State University were escorted out of a Trump rally.
- A White Pulitzer prize winning Time Magazine reporter was violently manhandled and thrown out of a Trump rally by secret service agents.
There are undoubtedly similar videos that are just as disturbing.
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In the case of Ms. Nwanguma, one of the men in the video roughing her up as he forces her out of the building was Towson University graduate Matthew Heimbach. Another person in this same video was later identified as Joseph Pryor, a 20 year old recent US Marine enlistee. When the video exposing his involvement in the incident was made public and bought to the attention of Marine officials, Pryor was expelled from the marine core. Both Latino men were the victims of racist and xenophobic slurs from protestors. The Black students raised their fists in the air as they were escorted out of the auditorium. The photographer in question, Christopher Morris, was issued an apology from the Secret Service after Time Magazine contacted them. This past weekend, we saw several White Trump protestors find themselves on the receiving end of Trump’s violent, unhinged goons.
His rallies have become a perverse haven for racists, sexist, homophobes, xenophobes and others who embrace intolerance.
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First off, I will admit, that each of these individuals reacted better than I would have. As a tuition paying student, I would have taken action against Trump. Secondly, if that man had spit in my face, I would have tried my best to send him to the cemetery. Such behavior was totally foul and uncalled for.
What these incidents represent, both individually and collectively, is that Donald Trump has managed to tap into the anger, resentment and fear of a large segment of White, largely blue collar, working class voters both democrat and republican (although he has his supporters among more upscale affluent Whites as well) who are largely psychologically crippled with racial, social, economic, religious and xenophobic fears. These are the men and women who see the America they once thought existed as largely gone, though such a society never existed as Joan Walsh so eloquently argued in her very thoughtful and engaging book, What’s The Matter With White People?, . In their misguided mindset, “their nation has been hijacked, contaminated and taken siege by the multiple forces of globalization, the continuing blacking and browning of America, affirmative action, the erosion of traditional gender roles, the redefinition of what wee previously well-established social hierarchies and other related issues that in the minds of many people in this socio economic co-hort are viewed as sinister” forces designed to undermine, disrupt and destroy good old fashioned American values as well as the nation itself.
Trump has also successfully, in a perverse way, managed to tap into the fascist overtones of 1930s Europe. His rallies have become a perverse haven for racists, sexist, homophobes, xenophobes and others who embrace intolerance. It is evident that he has studied and decided to emulate the rhetoric of former socialist turned fascist Benito Mussolini, and yes, sad to say, to a lesser extent, Adolf Hitler by adopting the brash physical movements and piercingly polarizing rhetoric that was commonplace among both mid 20th century madmen. These men were able to tap into the fears, anxieties and resentments of their fellow European countrymen and use such anger to acquire leadership and power. We all know the tragic end result of such blind, irresponsible opportunism.
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The fact that Trump managed to tell MSNBC commentator Chuck Todd and others with a straight face that he had never heard of David Duke and knew “nothing” about the Ku Klux Klan or other White Supremacist organizations (footage of him in a 2000 news interview debunked such dishonesty) would be laughable if it were not so dangerous. What we have witnessed over the past several years is an alarming backlash toward others who are to perceived as “real Americans” by those wishing to return the nation to earlier more racially and gender stratified and restrictive times. Much of this has been due to the fact that there is a specific segment of the population who are angry at the fact that the nation elected a Black man as president of the United States.
Over the past several years, the tea party has further amplified the caustic tone with its birther nonsense, questioning the president’s intelligence, his ethics, his fitness to serve in office, his manhood and his basic humanity.
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Truth be told, the fact is that White supremacists have been with since the inception of this nation. The only difference now is that instead of operating behind the scenes in overt and cult like fashion, such a monstrous movement has been emboldened by the current, politically/racially fractured state of affairs. Coupled with largely inadequate focus and coverage by the mainstream media. They been afforded and given a mouthpiece, and ample publicity. Donald Trump, fringe segments of the radical right and to a degree, a segment of the mainstream media have carelessly played along with such dangerous fire.
The fact is that for more than a half century, the republican party has been at work creating and exploiting racial fears of certain segments of the White population using dog whistles and coded political messages – crime, welfare, states rights, “reverse discrimination” (which there is no such thing) and others. Over the past several years, the tea party has further amplified the caustic tone with its birther nonsense, questioning the president’s intelligence, his ethics, his fitness to serve in office, his manhood and his basic humanity. It has been a sheer and utter disgrace. A sad commentary to be sure.
Watching and listening to Trump supporters whipping themselves up into a delirious frenzy screaming at the top of their lungs “ Take Him Out” “Light The Mother F*cker on Fire” “USA! USA!” “The bitch has got a Bomb” and engage in other sinister antics as his goons and “enforcers” attack and drag dissenting voices out of stadiums planted vivid and alarming comparisons of Hitler’s stormtroopers and Mussolini’s brown shirts in mid 20th century fascist Germany and Italy in my mind. It was oppressive fascism at its core. We know the eventual results of such aggressive intolerance was not pretty. I am confident that America will not go down that road. That being said, all of us of good will and decency must make every effort to ensure that we indeed will not do so.
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Photo: Getty Images
If the USA is becoming more Latino is due to several things: 1) Because of all the good paying jobs being send overseas, families particularly white ones have put off having children. The USA has the lowest birthrate since 1935. 2) USA due to its Latin America politics has forced many people in that area to come to the United States in the largest immigration period the world has ever seen. Juan Gonzales of the show Democracy Now had written a book about it about one to two years ago. You can thank both American corporations and the American government… Read more »
Man I hope my comment that was awaiting moderation wasn’t deleted because it was offensive, because it was. But it was NOT something I said, nor believe in to my very core. But it was said by LBJ to support the start of the welfare state as we know it, and how it was brought about by the very same Democratic party that says it’s all about the people. And that position was the start of the destruction of a whole class of people, taking all opportunity away from them and their children and grandchildren. But if you can’t face… Read more »
And corporate welfare state aided and abetted by the Republican Party and blue dog Democrats has not done anything at all for the American family except to destroy it in terms of loss of jobs and taking away opportunities for people to have a decent live plus start their own companies instead of being slaves to corporations. That is the truth that many people don’t want to face.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone as one sided and blind eyed to what all of them have done to us. In fact I think that’s one of the absolute weakest and most dangerous positions of the left. To literally crow about how wonderful you all are and vilify anyone else’s opinion that even slightly deviates from your own dogma. No wonder a guy like trump arose. The Republicans you rail against don’t want him either. He really isn’t a Republican. He’s a libertarian. And you toss your blue dog democrats right under the bus too because they’re no… Read more »
You Mark are the one who is one sided and blind eye to what is happening in this country and your position is the absolute weakest and most dangerous positions of the right. People like you are the ones hat vilified anyone’s opinion that is different from your own dogma. The right wing Republicans have thrown their moderate Republicans under the bus because they are not right enough. Even many people have stated that Ronald Reagan nowadays not be considered right wing enough. If right wing people particularly wealthy people continue their pushing, as Nick Hanauer pointed out, there will… Read more »
“Truth be told, the fact is that White supremacists have been with since the inception of this nation.” Yes, it was the Democratic party as it is now. If there is one party that’s kept minorities down, it’s the Democrats aka liberals all in the name of “caring.” The many minorities that I know, who have become successful spit the Kook-aid out and refused to give in. Speaking of white supremacists. Everyone jumped on Trump because they “thought the KKK was supporting him … where is the media now that the Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Will Quigg Endorses Hillary… Read more »
Read my lips. Don’t wanna hear it Tom. Dont wanna hear it.
So did many other Democrats at the time. South Carolina senator Storm Thurmond was the senator who had a record breaking filibuster in 1964. At the time he was a democrat. However, he and other southern Dixiecrats became so enraged at the passage of the civil rights bill that was passed by congress under the support of president Lyndon Johnson that they denounced the Democratic Party and became republicans. Has the Democratic Party had its bad apples? Of course. However, the majority of opposition toward civil rights legislation over the past 50 plus years has come from the republican party.… Read more »
Show me Elwood, I’d be glad to read it. Just want to point out too that Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the country and has been run by democrats for as many years that I can remember. Nonetheless, I’m interested in what you present.
Mark, at least black kids are no longer being the quiet people like their forefathers and mothers were compare to many white people including kids who are taught at all costs to be quiet and the end result is that they are a bunch of sheep and zombie robots plus the end result is that many of the white kids will have problems trying to communicate with each other and their family members because they have been verbally and phyiscially beaten not to speak their minds and have full range of emotions. You need to understand and learn that Mark;… Read more »
Where in the world do you get the idea that kids are physically beaten to shut them down, by their own parents. Children are children. No matter the age. You too are woefully naive. As probably we all are. The 50s and 60s had jobs that all of us accessed. That was the key. They are gone. Many as a result of liberal policies. But you did increase social programs that are in the long run useless and a waste aggregately. But we keep doing it because you keep screaming for it without getting any result . You need to… Read more »
No Mark, you are woefully navie. Kids do get beaten down physically; otherwise, words like child abuse and domestic violence would not have existed. No the jobs were gone due to conservative business policies starting in the 1980s and people like you keep screaming for tax breaks and tax subsidies for rich people and corporations and there is nothing to show for all the money that we gave them. You need to learn this Mark. Your views are entrenched and are unable to debate. You are wrong and guys like you have no Plan B and this country is toast… Read more »
Mark, the world has gone to hades in a basket since the election of Ronald Reagan. If you think that Trump is going to allow you to protest, then don’t bet your own life on it. As Trump stated, he could shoot someone, and not lose any vote. Since 9/11, corporations and wealthy people have been using their right wing think tanks like ALEC to get the government at all levels to pass laws that are pro-business to them plus getting laws pass that criminalizes any kind of political, social, and economic protests. Why do you think that they wanted… Read more »
Mark, blacks have been disrespected so much that you can’t blame them for not respecting anyone including each other. Beside, isn’t respect suppose to be earn? Black schools have been deliberately underfunded for years so how do you expect the black kids to learn the new technology?. Even white students are being deliberately underfund in Republican-run states like Florida, Kansas, Wisconsin. Throwing money at the schools? Yeah rights. If that was true, teachers would have higher salaries, would not be paying for school supplies out of their own salaries, and we would have a highly educated workforce. Instead, government money… Read more »
You have more reporters particularly minorities reporters and even white reporters being assault by the police at the RNC Convention, Ferguson riots, Los Angeles immigration rallies, and at a Trump rally. Sorry Sherlock, you don’t have your facts straight.
But what about the black students at a university I think maybe Brown, who absolutely refused to let a white student journalist attend to report. They physically removed him. Sorry Dr. Watson, but it truly goes both ways. You’re not helping anything by being one sided. Nobody is if they do that.
Good article! Too bad we’re having to worry with this matter.
A good Native American friend and activist recently said something that I think is exactly right:
“America has gone from a nation of implicit racism to a nation of explicit racism with the rise of Donald Trump”.
One correction, Mussolini’s goons were known as the ‘black shirts’ the pre-cursor to the German SA thugs, known as ‘brown shirts’.
here is a great example, showed up just this morning oddly enough, of what I was saying in my first post, Elwood. You identify fascism in context of Trump and the overall political Right. That really is unfair. if there is fascism there, then it is equally if not more so expressed on the Left. You can’t say that, you can’t do that, only we have the moral highground, and if you do do anything like that we will call you a hater, and a racist, and we will shame you into submission, and we will trurn you in to… Read more »
Mark …. thanks. That was great and I’m glad you shared it. Our black staff can mirror what Mr. Thomas has said. But far be it for a white staff to say the same thing. Just keeping it real here.
Here is the link to his talk to the students.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3493895/You-got-nerve-act-fool-somebody-cares-Black-motivational-speaker-scolds-disadvantaged-St-Louis-students-disrespecting-white-Latino-Jewish-schools-never-do.html
G. You continue to proclaim basically the Marxist vision of the people’s struggle. The current disparities between the wealthy and the not, not to dismiss government policies to destroy the middle class is because of technology more than anything. Program codingcoding, development of production apps, building automated machinery that is putting people out of work. Black kids who don’t stay in school to learn the basics so how could they learn technology? The schools are shitty enough to stomp out any spirit of any kid yet we keep giving the teachers unions more money for no results. That’s just a… Read more »
You have no concept of the violence of ‘fascism’ To change that perspective, I would like to invite you to Eastern Ukraine where U.S. founded Neo Nazi Azov Battalions and Right Sector SS mercenaries attack daily with AK-47s, Rocket Propelled Grenades, Mortars, unguidined Grad series rockets (launched 24 a time per truck), 152 mm artillery shelling (that leaves a crater the size of a Smarte Car and shrapnel in a 50 to 70 foot radius) and of course errant air attacks from jets and helicopters. All founded, paid, sanctioned, endorsed and praised by the Obama Administration. Politics of socialism and… Read more »
The fact is that Professor Watson’s comments about a large portion of the people who attend Trump rallies are right on target.
Thank you Phillip.
Elwood Watson, Ph.D.
Author of Article
What about hatred of the labor unions and workers not only in the USA but also in the rest of the world. I have never seen the rich people and business leaders in the last 36 years with their attempts to keep all the wealth to themselves and deny others a decent living.