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UNITED STATES - Trump’s Racism Reflects Our Humanity
Ilka Oliva Corado
Monday 1 August 2016, posted by
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The Trump acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention was above all an assault to peace and democracy; it was in itself a call to violence and the continuity of racist and interventionist policies.
At the beginning of the race for the presidency many labeled him crazy as a way to discrediting him, no, the crazies are another thing. Trump is the exemplification of ultraconservative thought that governs the foundation of this country, its society and its system. Trump, all he has done, is to say aloud what most in this society speaks behind closed doors.
I will not say “Republicans” because Democrats are identical except that they handle it by the chameleonic side and make use of double standards for their own convenience; Republicans go for the jugular and spit in the face, whereas Democrats extending a hand, in a gesture of conciliation, deliver a stab in the back. We could do a review of the foreign policy of Democratic governments and see the interference, terror and death left in their wake. The most recent example: Obama, who has nothing to envy to the Bushes.
The fact that Trump is the official candidate of the Republican Party is the sole responsibility of the media coverage that put him there, as a countermove to Hillary Clinton (rendering Sanders invisible at all times) the media publicly played most of the time on the side of Trump, but strategically on the Clinton side. They knew that by fixating in the Ku Klux Klan they would achieve the mass reaction that would benefit Clinton.
Since the beginning they knew that the goal was to create a monster that would make clear the xenophobia and racism in American society, and for that to happen they had to give the highest possible effect to Trump’s segregationist speeches . What was the purpose? Awaken fear as early as possible for the masses to see Hillary Clinton as the only way out. And the worst part is that they succeeded. What awaits the world with a president like her! For many citizens will vote for Clinton, not because she represents them but as a punishment to Trump. Either way, the system got the masses where they wanted them to be.
Anybody, by blind guessing, would say that Clinton is better than Trump, be careful! Clinton represents the capital, she isn’t a sweet candy.
At the Democratic National Convention she will offer a conciliatory and tone down speech, perfectly structured to impact hard in the minds of the undecided and to impress upon her followers, thus ensuring their vote. Her best strategy is to pose as a feminist and a woman of moral values. In a society of double standars, that is the coup de grace.
Trump clearly states his hatred for undocumented immigrants to the point that he conflates the southern border with undocumented Latin Americans and the building of a wall. But what does he say about his country interference in Latin America which is the main cause of forced immigration? Should his country stop interfering, forced immigration would not exist. Why does he not promise with the same zeal that his country will stop invading countries and killing multitudes as a result of its foreign policy?
Not surprisingly the Border Patrol supports Trump, this because they are xenophobic. It is not surprise that no undocumented immigrant wants to denounce what happens on the border, because he will never be heard and, on the contrary, will be imprisoned and deported. The whole system is against undocumented immigration; from the Border Patrol, to the one filing the complaint and the judge who dismissed it and ordered prison for the “terrorist”. Because in the United States an undocumented, for the simple fact of lacking papers, is as terrorist as a Muslim just because of their religion or country of birth, when we all know who the real terrorists are and the capital that creates and supports them.
There is an extraordinary film that is the best production that has been done in this country about the system and undocumented immigration, called “Machete”. It seems sarcasm but it reveals what this system does at all levels with undocumented workers from the moment they cross the border. Over there you see politicians, very powerful ones, shooting at undocumented workers in the nocturnal hunts. These are ordinary things that are performed by Hollywood actors like Steven Seagal who with a machine gun in hand hunts immigrants at the border. What does this society, religious people, and Democrats say about it? No a peep.
Trump has never been the problem because any presidential candidate has the right to their ideology and freedom of thought; here the questioning is to the part of society that supports him: teachers, doctors, engineers, parents, athletes. Any given neighbor, any diner guest at any restaurant, any artist; anywhere there’s xenophobia and racism. What do we have to tell those who are not public figures? To what extent does this country need to reflect upon as a society? A racist father raises racist children, a racist community has racist neighbors, a racist teacher educates racist students, and so and so … there are exceptions but are so few, and I’m not stereotyping.
Why are there so many followers who cheer Trump whenever he speaks about pairing with Israel and allies countries to destroy Syria, Palestine and the Muslim world? He speaks with a sense of white superiority -root of the Ku Klux Klan- and the best Hitlerian fascism style.
Why are there so many blacks and Latinos who support him? Also a great deal of Asians, did they forget Hiroshima? Those Latinos who deny their roots, their blood, their ancient heritage, Latinos that hate Latin America. Blacks who live and work under the white man standards, who do not recognized their African identity; did they forget slavery to which their ancestors were subjected? ¿Are they unaware of blacks death perpetrated by the white police? Did they forget the fight for Civil Rights and their many martyrs?
Those blacks have black children who are discriminated in white schools, and they still support a candidate like Trump! And these black discriminate against the African community because they feel superior. Same with Latinos, who considered themselves white because they have documents or because they were born here. But not even that is going to erase their Latin American ancient heritage, even if adopting the behavior of traitors like Cruz and Rubio.
And as an important part for any sociocultural study about this country, it is necessary to take into account that this society is made up of immigrants from all over the world, who have children born here from Asian, Latin American, European and African heritage.
We cannot stone the American society based on stereotypes, like skin color and the like, because it resemble us. So for us the questions remain: How racist and xenophobes are we in our own countries? How many of us also utter racial hatred speeches similar to Trump’s? How many of us are homophobic, classist, racist, misogynist and patriarchal, and religious fanatics?
How many of us in our countries have given our vote to Dantesque characters like Trump? These are individuals who make use of the same policies against their own people. How many of us have given our vote for neoliberal policies similar to the ones offered by Clinton? How many us based on our skin color, educational level or social status have discriminated against others? If we dig a little bit more the answers will surprise us. We will see that we are like or worse than the hate speech that Trump and his followers spread.
Do not forget that everything that happens in the United States (because of its status as world power) is the immediate reflection of what we are as human beings. Every time we think on Trump’s hate speech it should help us to do a self-analysis and question our role in society and if our double standards can go along to continue with the same speech cloaked in reconciliation and patriarchal values, as Hillary Clinton does with her false feminism.
@ilkaolivacorado
contacto[AT]cronicasdeunainquilina.com
Translated by Marvin Najarro