November 27, 2019
Page 9
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O PINION
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Even in Narrow Terms, Trump Fits the Bill
Racism means
a lot more than
slurs and hate
J ill r iChardson
“Is Trump a rac-
ist?” I have two an-
swers to that question.
First, most white
Americans misunder-
stand racism solely as
intentional beliefs held by indi-
vidual racists who hate people on
the basis of race. For example, at
times the media has focused on
whether or not they could prove
Trump had ever used the N-word,
as if that alone would be the mea-
sure of whether or not he is a rac-
ist.
Sociologist Eduardo Bonil-
la-Silva says that this “misses the
fact” that racism is “a part of the
social structure of society. Hence,
we all participate in it — and we
participate in it whether we like
it or not, in conscious and uncon-
scious ways, and in passive as
well as active ways.”
This latter definition, the one
accepted by sociologists and
race scholars, takes a bit of get-
by
ting used to, particularly if you
are a white person who abhors
racism.
I try to frame it for my stu-
dents as follows: This nation was
founded by people of Europe-
an descent who stole land
from — and committed a
genocidal campaign against
— the indigenous people on
this continent. Then they en-
slaved Africans and their de-
scendants for more than 200
years.
Segregation only became fully
illegal in 1968. Anyone over the
age of 51 was alive while segrega-
tion was still legal. We as a nation
are still grappling with the legacy
of our past, working toward jus-
tice for all — and we aren’t there
yet.
None of us alive today asked to
be born into a racist society — and
yet, here we all are. It’s impossible
to grow up in that society without
participating in the status quo and
absorbing at least some prejudic-
es, even if they are only subcon-
scious ones.
In short, learning about race
means getting comfortable with
the idea that our society itself is
effectively racist, even for white
folks who don’t actively feel that
hatred themselves.
My second answer about
whether or not Trump is a racist
is: Yes. And not just in the “every-
one’s a racist” sense of the word.
For example, during the run up
to the 2016 election, white nation-
alists supported Donald Trump
because they felt like he would
represent their interests and values
best. Former Klan leader David
Duke openly supported Trump,
and still does.
Now, a trove of leaked emails
show that Trump’s senior advis-
er Stephen Miller is “clearly im-
mersed in white nationalist ideol-
ogy.”
If Trump appeals to white na-
tionalists and appoints white na-
tionalists to senior positions in his
administration, does that mean he
holds racist views himself? Prob-
ably — but does it even matter?
Whatever he privately believes,
he’s allowed white nationalists to
infiltrate senior levels of govern-
ment, and they are influencing na-
tional policy.
In a more recent talk at the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin-Madison,
Bonilla-Silva analyzed Trump’s
use of language to show how
he speaks in terms of “us” and
“them,” in which “us” refers to
white Americans and “them” re-
fers to people of color. And he
routinely refers to immigrant “in-
festations,” using language most
people reserve for insects and ro-
dents they intend to exterminate.
(Yet he’s not against all immi-
grants: he likes to marry the white
ones.)
Although Trump often defends
his immigration policies in terms
of national security or economic
concerns, the facts show that im-
migrants commit crimes at lower
rates than native born citizens and,
as one study put it, “immigration
has an overall positive impact on
the long-run economic growth in
the U.S.”
In short, Trump’s language, his
choice of senior officials in his
administration, and his populari-
ty among white nationalists show
that he holds racist views. It’s
those views — and not national
security or economic factors —
that are behind his policies.
OtherWords columnist Jill
Richardson is pursuing a PhD in
sociology at the University of Wis-
consin-Madison. Distributed by
OtherWords.org.
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