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Est. April 5, 2002
 
           
March 17, 2016 - Issue 645

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Donald Trump
Inspires Racist Frenzy
In Hopes of Capturing
The White House

 
By Joe Navarro

"Trump's supporters thrive on ignorance.
They live in a bigot bubble that makes them
feel safe. They love racist code words that
give them a false sense of superiority. They
believe in fascism, but call it democracy. They
are attracted to a member of America's elite
wealthy ruling class, whose objective is to
defend his own class interests, not theirs."


Donald Trump has been confronted with opposition rallies as he attempts to address his supporters in major cities. The Chicago protest last Friday became a national news story as anti-Trump protesters physically had to defend themselves from Trump’s bullies who behaved like thugs. Trump has often spoken out encouraging violence against the protesters. Prior to the Chicago event, protesters have been punched and spat upon as they were hugely outnumbered by Trumps thugs. The irony should not escape anyone when public figures like Trump have people who disagree with him thrown out of rallies while explaining that he is for freedom of speech.

I would pose it this way: When a small handful of people who protest against Trump go to his rallies, they get beaten and thrown out. Trump has publicly applauded this bullying thuggish activity. When large numbers of protesters show up, Trump supporters are surprised that they can't bully them. Trump calls protesters who defend themselves thugs. He hides and calls off his rally. Trump rallies people to support white supremacy and hatred of Mexicans, Arabs, African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, Muslims and immigrants. Why does he and his supporters find it surprising that those people and anti-racist white folks would protest against Trump? Why does the media avoid the topic of Trump's racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia as the cause of the protests? The mainstream media (corporate and NPR) have video and audio evidence of Trump’s statements, yet minimally air them or refuse to air them, while at the same time giving disproportionately overabundant coverage to Trump.

It should be noted that Trump rallies are predominantly white males and some females. The anti-Trump protesters are Raza*, Muslims, African-Americans, Asians, immigrants and anti-racist white folks. In one case a group of military veterans for peace was intimidated into removing their slogans condemning Trumps anti-Muslim statements. The protesters oppose the blatantly racist rhetoric of Trump.

As I see it white supremacist groups are utilizing this time, under the current political atmosphere, to make their cause known to America. They speak for white supremacy, but not for all white people. Naturally oppressed nationality people (that is those who have self-respect) will stand up to them and oppose their efforts to build a white supremacist nation, and continue the struggle for racial and ethnic justice. I hope and suspect that there will be white people, in the tradition of John Brown, who have and will also step up for the cause of racial and ethnic justice.



It is more than a coincidence that groups like the KKK and other white supremacists are feeling braver at this time when Trump is campaigning on racist rhetoric and police are killing black and other oppressed nationality people daily? Trump is horrible enough, but what is worse is that he has a large base of supporters. It's not that he has any original ideas, or fact based positions. He offers no research findings and simply says I believe..., I think..., I know..., many people tell me... On this, his word without any evidence to support his claims people believe he is a good candidate for president. His supporters embrace him because he speaks out against people they hate...Mexicans (all Raza actually), Muslims, people from the Arab world, Asians, Asian Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Native Americans and immigrants. When he says make America great again, he means the US should be a stronger imperialist power. This has strong implications for the future of this nation. His supporters blindly defend him, and suffer from selective amnesia when he denies promoting violence. Unfortunately Trump's supporters thrive on ignorance. They live in a bigot bubble that makes them feel safe. They love racist code words that give them a false sense of superiority. They believe in fascism, but call it democracy. They are attracted to a member of America's elite wealthy ruling class, whose objective is to defend his own class interests, not theirs. I've learned that with some people logic does not apply.

Some people have been posting that Trump is a failed businessman. That he's just a rich brat who inherited his wealth. It's as though they believe that there is a general ethical principal to being a wealthy capitalist. But think about it: being a wealthy capitalist means private accumulation of wealth, exploitation of labor, super-exploitation of oppressed nationalities, women, and workers of oppressed nations, buying politicians to create pro-business laws and to protect business investments nationally and internationally, and finding loopholes to avoid paying taxes and receiving government aid. There are no ethical practices for them. It's all about profits...the bottom line. This is Trump. I would say Trump is typical of America's 1%, not an anomaly.

In a note of irony, the juxtaposition to Donald Trump is another white man, Bernie Sanders. Sanders has a track record of voting for the right things. He has opposed the Wall Street bail-out, opposed the war in Iraq, supports universal health-care and a livable minimum wage, supports Black Lives Matter, is for immigrant rights, opposes Islamophobia, has a history of civil rights and human rights activism, has spoken out against US imperialist policies in Latin America and Caribbean, actively pro-choice, supports GLBT people’s rights, promotes equitable distribution of wealth, supports pro-family issues including equal pay for women and wants to end corporate sponsorship of elected officials. The corporate media supports it’s own class interests as well by minimizing Sanders’ exposure to the public.

*The term “Raza,” comes from La Raza or the cosmic race. People who come from the Americas and Caribbean islands, who often have a mixture of indigenous (native), African and Spanish ancestry. There are many different and distinct nationalities who share a common bond against a history of oppression and for self-determination.


BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator Poet, Joe Navarro, is a Literary Vato Loco, creative writer, poet and teacher, who currently lives in Hayward, CA.  His work is inspired by poets Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Lalo Delgado, Gloria Anzaldua and others.  His poetry echoes experiences and sentiments of oppressed people who struggle for justice, equity, self-determination and humanistic self-definition. Contact Mr. Navarro and BC.
 
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