What Trump and the Republican’s are really saying…
At the recently concluded National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Conference ABC’s Rachel Scott opened the Q&A with presidential candidate Donald Trump with a multi-faceted question about the many times that Donald Trump has said racist things… from falsely insisting Barack Obama wasn’t born in America to calling Black journalists losers and racist… and Trump’s response was to whine like a three-year old toddler that the questions were unfair and then to chastise and berate Ms. Scott for being nasty, before he launched into a blizzard of barely rational Trump-speak that ultimately wound up with him white-splaining race to a roomful of Black journalists which began with him spouting out that “I did not know (Kamala Harris) was Black until a couple of years ago when she happened to turn Black. “And now she wants to be known as Black. Is she Indian, or is she Black?”
It was classic Trumpism on display as he avoided even attempting to answer Scott’s question directly and/or honestly… and… then turning the moment into an attack on Harris as well the hoopla that has reinvigorated the Democrats presidential campaign with her being anointed as their replacement for the ineffective candidacy of Joe Biden.
And to be sure he was successful to a point in that the onstage panel struggled to pin him down on exactly why he talks about race the way he does and, more to the point, under what circumstances can he possibly believe… or have we the voters believe… that what he says isn’t in fact plain and simple racist bullshit that is put out here to appeal to his mostly white voting base.
Regardless of his intent what Trump managed to do was to show the world how regressive and prejudiced against minorities and working class people his political agenda actually is. His racism, along with his platform of isolationism, nationalism and voodoo economics, was a poignant reminder of a past America once upon a time dwelled in the darkness of the ignorance of the Jim Crow era.
At another point in the Q&A the conversion turned to how since Harris has become the Democrats’ candidate that a significant number for prominent Republican politicians have bitched that Vice President Kamala Harris is nothing more than a “DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) hire.” That Harris is only where she is politically because she happens to be multi-racial individual who happens to be a woman.
The irony of the basis of this attack strategy is that Trump and his mini-me Governor Vance are themselves nothing more than PEI (prejudice, exclusion and injustice) hires. That both Trump and Vance are essentially where they are politically and socially due to the patronage of other wealthy and white men… Trump was given a fortune by his father Fred and Mr. Vance is the protégé of billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
And the real purpose of the Republicans’… and by extension Trump’s and Vance’s… characterization of Harris as a DEI hire is to underscore a troubling hierarchy that is designed with the sole purpose to undermine and devalue the leadership of women of color. That these privileged white men are reducing Harris to a mere token of diversity, equity and inclusion which ignores the real facts that she might actually have real qualifications that have led her to a substantial career in legal and in government service.
The Republicans’ rhetoric is part of a broader goal by a patriarchal society to reinforce systemic barriers that disempower women of color. The intent is to create and foster a climate where a multi-racial woman’s …. Ms. Harris in particular… achievements and leadership are being constantly questioned and devalued, which in turn perpetuates age-old stereotypes and biases that hinder progress toward real and meaningful racial and gender equality.
Trump’s, and the Republicans, words reinforce prejudices that shape public perception and undermine efforts to create a more inclusive society, and it gives the racists in our American society validation to exist.
This November a vote for the Republicans is a vote for racism and sexism to be the hallmarks of a draconian Trumpian dictatorship in America.
While a vote for the Democrats is a rejection of such oppressive rhetoric and is instead a commitment to dismantle these systemic and regressive behaviors while building an environment in which the contributions of Black women are respected and celebrated.
If you value life then vote Blue this November.
Another thousand words…
