Racism is an important propelling force for Trump. There remains significant racism in America which Trump nurtures to his advantage. In the Trump Presidency, his early signals of "good people on both sides" in Charlottesville brought white supremacists and antisemites out from under rocks.
Evangelicals who support Trump seek more than an abortion ban; they seek to end immigration of people of color. Trump recently stated that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country," reminiscent of Hitler's promotion of an Aryan race, and demonstrating his desire to be a white dictator. The bond between the evangelicals and white thugs like the KKK and the Proud Boys is an oxymoron. Yet, the enthusiasm for Trump has a common denominator-- white supremacy. While campaigning recently in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley proved that pandering to racist Republicans is too important to her campaign to comment on slavery in the Civil War. She uncomfortably slithered away from the topic, refusing to acknowledge slavery as the cause of the Civil War or even discuss slavery. In fact, Haley has denied that we have been a racist country.
MAGA Trumpers do not seek the advancement of people of color to have rights equal to white, Christian citizens. Trump has ignited the frustrated base of White Americans who believe they are threatened by people of color. At least some are seemingly ready to use force to get a proven racist back in the White House. The Trump base seems to favor the fascist approach-- ban books and censor history curriculums to deny any mention of slavery and racism in America.
Anti-Trumpers must face the reality of American racism and what we can and will do to create greater equality for our people. Black Americans appear to be less willing to vote for Biden's reelection. Democrats must react. A Trump victory would be the end of American democracy and racism would flourish.
We are, and have been, a racist country from the beginning, albeit less so today than for the centuries that preceded us. What could be more racist than slavery of African people? Racism and the inferiority of people of African descent were declared by the U.S. Supreme Court as the Supreme Law of the Land in 1857 in the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. The notorious and shameful decision, written by Chief Justice Roger Taney, disgraced the Court and our country. The decision declared that the Constitution did not apply to Blacks, since they were not intended by our founders to be included as "citizens." Taney went on to explain that there is a "perpetual and impassable barrier" between the White race and Blacks. Taney actually referred to Blacks as "beings of an inferior order." This is the worst Supreme Court decision ever rendered.
It was, however, repudiated by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the passage in 1865 of both the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery and the Fourteenth Amendment's first section, guaranteeing citizenship for all who were born or naturalized in the U.S.
American Whites lost their right to own slaves after more than 200 years, until 1863, when Black people became forever free under the Emancipation Proclamation. The Whites' perception of the inferiority of Black people nevertheless persisted thereafter and racism continued.
Speaking to the White readers, did you grow up in a racist community? Did you hear n####r jokes? Did you laugh about them? Did you retell them? Did you hear or make negative comments about Black people? Did you live in a totally White community? Was there a perceived crisis over a Black family moving into your neighborhood? Was there a Whites only mentality where you grew up? Was it forbidden for young Whites to date Black girls and boys?
If the Whites said no to the first question above, would you change your mind now? Like many Whites (of which I am one), I never felt that I would do anything that was unfair to Blacks or anyone else. Therefore, I was not a racist. Nevertheless, the perception that Blacks were inferior to Whites was around many White communities in both subtle and blatant ways. Many Whites didn't know, and still don't know, anyone who is Black in our purposely segregated society. Segregation has sustained our openly racist culture.
Abraham Lincoln no doubt knew that true freedom for emancipated Black people would take time. Would he have expected that one hundred years later, a civil rights leader, like Martin Luther King, would still be declaring that he had a dream that true freedom for Blacks would occur in America?
After President Lincoln's death, Blacks remained isolated from Whites. Strong and successful efforts were made to prohibit Blacks from voting with Jim Crow laws and intimidation. Lynchings of Black men were common in some states for many years. Organized racism, like the Ku Klux Klan, gave violent voice to racial hatred. For years, the Klan and its members were publicly known and received approval in many quarters.
American history shows advances in the freedoms of Black Americans, followed by backsliding to more racist suppression. More than 30 years after Blacks were freed and guaranteed citizenship, the Constitution was tortuously interpreted to the detriment of Black citizens. Our country made segregation of Black Americans the Supreme Law of the Land in 1896. In Plessy v. Ferguson, by a vote of 7-1, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the 14th Amendment, requiring equal protection of the law, was not violated because Blacks had equal quality facilities. This contorted and disgraceful opinion gave rise to the "Separate But Equal" doctrine. As a U.S. Constitutional ruling, all states were obliged to comply. The racist opinion was arguably one of the worst Supreme Court opinions in our civil rights history, second only to the Dred Scott decision. The Court itself, other than dissenting Justice Harlan, was as reprehensible as the Dred Scott bench. There are other contenders for shameful Justices and other pathetic reasoning at the Supreme Court but Separate But Equal dehumanized American citizens the way Dred Scott did.
Thus, the U. S. Supreme Court promulgated a racist practice that lasted more than a half century, 58 years, until 1954, when the opinion was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education.
Nineteen years after the Separate But Equal doctrine, a U.S. President reinforced racism in America.
In 1915, DW Griffith released the remarkably popular Civil War epic movie, The Birth of a Nation, which portrayed the members of the Ku Klux Klan as heroes and martyrs. The Birth of a Nation was the first film to be seen in the White House and it was viewed during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. For many, Wilson was looked upon with disdain for having a White House gathering for so racist a film. Wilson was a racist. He championed segregation, overseeing the segregation of federal agencies and rolling back civil rights progress that had been previously made. He wrote a history textbook lauding the Confederacy and the KKK. (Many years later, academic institutions removed his name from their buildings because of his racism.)
For a half century after the Emancipation Proclamation and passage of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, we had an American President, Woodrow Wilson, who sanctioned racism in our country. A sitting President signaled that it's acceptable to be a racist, opening the prospects for racial violence.
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