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By Joe Navarro
"Trump's supporters thrive on ignorance.
They live in a bigot bubble that makes them
feel safe. They love racist code words that
give them a false sense of superiority. They
believe in fascism, but call it democracy. They
are attracted to a member of America's elite
wealthy ruling class, whose objective is to
defend his own class interests, not theirs."
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Donald
Trump has been confronted with opposition rallies as he attempts to
address his supporters in major cities. The Chicago protest last Friday
became a national news story as anti-Trump protesters physically had to
defend themselves from Trump’s bullies who behaved like thugs. Trump
has often spoken out encouraging violence against the protesters. Prior
to the Chicago event, protesters have been punched and spat upon as
they were hugely outnumbered by Trumps thugs. The irony should not
escape anyone when public figures like Trump have people who disagree
with him thrown out of rallies while explaining that he is for freedom
of speech.
I would pose it this way: When a small handful of people who protest
against Trump go to his rallies, they get beaten and thrown out. Trump
has publicly applauded this bullying thuggish activity. When large
numbers of protesters show up, Trump supporters are surprised that they
can't bully them. Trump calls protesters who defend themselves thugs.
He hides and calls off his rally. Trump rallies people to support white
supremacy and hatred of Mexicans, Arabs, African Americans, Native
Americans, Asians, Muslims and immigrants. Why does he and his
supporters find it surprising that those people and anti-racist white
folks would protest against Trump? Why does the media avoid the topic
of Trump's racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia as the cause of the
protests? The mainstream media (corporate and NPR) have video and audio
evidence of Trump’s statements, yet minimally air them or refuse to air
them, while at the same time giving disproportionately overabundant
coverage to Trump.
It should be noted that Trump rallies are predominantly white males and
some females. The anti-Trump protesters are Raza*, Muslims,
African-Americans, Asians, immigrants and anti-racist white folks. In
one case a group of military veterans for peace was intimidated into
removing their slogans condemning Trumps anti-Muslim statements. The
protesters oppose the blatantly racist rhetoric of Trump.
As I see it white supremacist groups are utilizing this time, under the
current political atmosphere, to make their cause known to America.
They speak for white supremacy, but not for all white people. Naturally
oppressed nationality people (that is those who have self-respect) will
stand up to them and oppose their efforts to build a white supremacist
nation, and continue the struggle for racial and ethnic justice. I hope
and suspect that there will be white people, in the tradition of John
Brown, who have and will also step up for the cause of racial and
ethnic justice.
It is more than a coincidence that groups like the KKK and other white
supremacists are feeling braver at this time when Trump is campaigning
on racist rhetoric and police are killing black and other oppressed
nationality people daily? Trump is horrible enough, but what is worse
is that he has a large base of supporters. It's not that he has any
original ideas, or fact based positions. He offers no research findings
and simply says I believe..., I think..., I know..., many people tell
me... On this, his word without any evidence to support his claims
people believe he is a good candidate for president. His supporters
embrace him because he speaks out against people they hate...Mexicans
(all Raza actually), Muslims, people from the Arab world, Asians, Asian
Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Native Americans and immigrants.
When he says make America great again, he means the US should be a stronger imperialist power. This has strong
implications for the future of this nation. His supporters blindly
defend him, and suffer from selective amnesia when he denies promoting
violence. Unfortunately Trump's supporters thrive on ignorance. They
live in a bigot bubble that makes them feel safe. They love racist code
words that give them a false sense of superiority. They believe in
fascism, but call it democracy. They are attracted to a member of
America's elite wealthy ruling class, whose objective is to defend his
own class interests, not theirs. I've learned that with some people
logic does not apply.
Some people have been posting that Trump is a failed businessman. That
he's just a rich brat who inherited his wealth. It's as though they
believe that there is a general ethical principal to being a wealthy
capitalist. But think about it: being a wealthy capitalist means
private accumulation of wealth, exploitation of labor,
super-exploitation of oppressed nationalities, women, and workers of
oppressed nations, buying politicians to create pro-business laws and
to protect business investments nationally and internationally, and
finding loopholes to avoid paying taxes and receiving government aid.
There are no ethical practices for them. It's all about profits...the
bottom line. This is Trump. I would say Trump is typical of America's
1%, not an anomaly.
In a note of irony, the juxtaposition to Donald Trump is another white
man, Bernie Sanders. Sanders has a track record of voting for the right
things. He has opposed the Wall Street bail-out, opposed the war in
Iraq, supports universal health-care and a livable minimum wage,
supports Black Lives Matter, is for immigrant rights, opposes
Islamophobia, has a history of civil rights and human rights activism,
has spoken out against US imperialist policies in Latin America and
Caribbean, actively pro-choice, supports GLBT people’s rights, promotes
equitable distribution of wealth, supports pro-family issues including
equal pay for women and wants to end corporate sponsorship of elected
officials. The corporate media supports it’s own class interests as
well by minimizing Sanders’ exposure to the public.
*The term “Raza,” comes from La Raza or the cosmic race. People who
come from the Americas and Caribbean islands, who often have a mixture
of indigenous (native), African and Spanish ancestry. There are many
different and distinct nationalities who share a common bond against a
history of oppression and for self-determination.
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BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator Poet, Joe Navarro, is
a Literary Vato Loco, creative writer, poet and teacher, who currently
lives in Hayward, CA. His work is inspired by poets Amiri Baraka,
Sonia Sanchez, Lalo Delgado, Gloria Anzaldua and others. His poetry
echoes experiences and sentiments of oppressed people who struggle for
justice, equity, self-determination and humanistic self-definition. Contact Mr. Navarro and BC.
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 is published every Thursday |
Executive Editor:
David A. Love, JD |
Managing Editor:
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Publisher:
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