Eugene Robinson: Trump’s dangerous dance with bigotry

[babylonsister]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-dance-with-bigotry/2016/03/03/d78f735a-e17f-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html?postshare=71457058006299&tid=ss_tw

Trump’s dangerous dance with bigotry


A man wearing a hand-lettered "Build the Wall" t-shirt waits in line at a rally for Donald Trump on February 4 in New Hampshire. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
By Eugene Robinson
Opinion writer
March 3 at 8:18 PM


Donald Trump plays on racial fears and animosities in an ugly, deliberate and dangerous way. This dance with bigotry goes far beyond his temporary amnesia about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan.

Trump speaks as if he considers whiteness the norm and sees people of color as somehow alien and suspect. He is the only major American political figure in many decades to display such an antediluvian worldview so openly. Trump doesn’t tweet dog whistles, he blasts foghorns.

He brags about getting along famously with “the blacks” and “the Hispanics.” How long has it been since anyone in public life used such casually exclusionary language? There are about 40 million African Americans and more than 55 million Hispanic Americans, all of them reduced, by Trump’s use of the definite article, to sidekick status — the “good” ones being, I suppose, a bunch of Sammy Davis Jrs. and Ricky Ricardos.

Trump’s entire platform, such as it is, can be reduced to “us vs. them.” The overwhelmingly white, largely blue-collar crowds that fill his gargantuan rallies are buffeted by harsh economic realities and have good reason to be anxious about the future. Trump doesn’t give them solutions, he gives them scapegoats.

snip//

Trump still cannot bring himself to acknowledge that President Obama was born in the United States; once a birther, always a birther, I guess. A poll in September showed that two-thirds of Trump’s supporters believe Obama is a Muslim; Trump does nothing whatsoever to disabuse them of that false notion.

Several recent polls have shown that a majority of Republicans, not just Trumpistas, support his idea of temporarily banning all foreign Muslims from entering the country. It would be impossible to implement such a policy — just as it would be impossible to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. But actually doing these things is not the point. Activating populist anger against Muslims and Latinos seems to be what Trump is after.

There are just two possibilities: Either Trump is a bigot or he pretends to be one for political gain. Pick your poison.

[world wide wally]

1. Even if he is just "pretending", he is inspiring them to act

[noretreatnosurrender]

2. Saw it in Kentucky

I saw some of his crowd attack a protester in Kentucky. It was ugly and it will get uglier but our TV media just wants to get good ratings covering it. Shame on them and shame on Trump. The one good thing is that a lot more of the racists are out in public showing their true selves. They've always been there but they pretended they weren't racist in public. Now we are starting to see them come out of hiding. It's much easier to fight the ones who don't hide. The ones that hide and pretend they aren't racist have always been the hardest to fight.

[babylonsister]

3. Yes, he opened eyes.

After Obama got in, I realized how racist this country is. trump is feeding the beast; I think we should all be worried.

[bemildred]

5. I am an old white guy raised in LA in the 50s and 60s and it was obvious.

And yep, that is exactly what he is doing. Watch his eyes. That hair covers his eyes.

[bemildred]

4. People who incite the mob with the idea of riding to power on it tend to regret that.

Often, quite soon.

[noretreatnosurrender]

7. Yes they do

The mob is not easy to control once you've unleashed it.

[pampango]

6. "Trump’s entire platform, such as it is, can be reduced to “us vs. them.” "Trump doesn’t give them

solutions, he gives them scapegoats."

At least this time around, fascists are not blaming Jews. They have moved on to other targets. "Activating populist anger against Muslims and Latinos (not to mention Chinese, Japanese and the rest of the world's 'foreigners') seems to be what Trump is after."

[jwirr]

8. Just give him time. I don't think there is a single minority

group that will be exempt from his hate politics. Not even Jews and white women.

And it doesn't matter if he is pretending. He has loosed the dogs but he is not holding the leash.