He complimented coal and welding in a love letter to the white working classes of Appalachia and the Midwest.
--------------------
LOL... oh sistah! Don't you know how many black men have good-paying jobs as welders?? The same number of electricians, construction workers, truck drivers and other skilled laborers.
The more you try to paint education as "white", even vocational education, the dumber you look yourself, like you are struggling to push an agenda. MORE black men (and women!) in these highly lucrative fields please. Don't hate on the white workers; accept that blacks in growing numbers are beginning to train and join them!!!
6
The phrases "white nationalism" and "white supremacy" now seem to mean anytime the focus isn't on blacks. Whites make up 70% of the population and blacks make up 13%. If the attention is on whites 85% of the time it is called white supremacy. When the attention is on blacks 80% of the time they aren't complaining about discrepancies. When blacks get power-whether in politics or entertainment-it is clear they focus almost entirely on their own race despite giving lip service to "people of color" solidarity. Whites are guilted into making educational decisions for their children and to support policy decisions by what is supposedly in the best interest of blacks, putting it before their own needs and the needs of their families. It is impossible to imagine these racism obsessed black activists, including the author, putting the needs of other racism before what is best for their own race and family. Black activists are geniuses are recognizing the character flaws and hypocrisies of everyone else. They are dumb, deaf and blind to their own serious flaws and weaknesses which are not harmless to others despite them not noticing.
8
Every single immigration proposal put forth by President Trump (with the exception of citizenship for 1.8 million illegal aliens) is identical to what African-American, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan recommended as leader of President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform. Tragically, Ms. Jordan died before Congress finished drafting the legislation based on her Commission. Without her around anymore to hold his feet to the fire, Clinton then backed away from his promises to the Barbara Jordan Democrats in order to cut deals with corporatist GOP like Spencer Abraham who wanted open borders.
Cesar Chavez, labor leader for California farmworkers, was completely opposed to illegal immigration because he argued it hurt US workers and exploited illegal migrants themselves.
Was Cesar Chavez a xenophobic white nationalist? Was African-American, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan a xenophobic white nationalist?
13
They say that to cook a live frog, you need only place it in a pot of cold water and slowly heat it to boiling. The frog never suspects anything is wrong because the change is so gradual.
To kill a democracy, perhaps a demagogue need only turn one part of the population against the other part, slowly, slyly, always denying any bad intent. Anyone who opposes is branded a wrongdoer, a criminal; the demagogue constantly ridicules his opponents and encourages his followers to do the same.
When the two sides are sufficiently filled with mistrust and hatred, the demagogue declares, “I and only I can solve this problem - give me the power”.
...and before you know it, the frog is cooked, the democracy is a dictatorship, a fascist totalitarian camp- the Us against the Them.
Beware the hypnotic voice of the demagogue.
7
Thank you for this calm response to flagrant hatred from the presidency. Your decency sets a truly admirable example for us to follow.
1
Actually, it's not white Americans, as such, who Trump supports. Rather, it's Republican Americans.
4
It's time we gave President Trump a break, Ms. Cauley.
The source of his problems can now be attributed to this factor-
This man simply got caught between the moon & New York City. And the best that he could do was fall in love...unfortunately..with himself.
3
Any screed that seeks to divide Americans by race, gender, sexual preference or whatever category is repugnant to me. Likewise any overblown peons to Obama and his feeble efforts to improve the lives of minorities. In my opinion, that sold-out suit was analogous to the criminal Clintons. African Americans , or any other group who refuse to refrain from denigrating their fellow citizens based on physical appearance do themselves and their cause a grave injustice. It is now popular for the media to bow to such obvious reverse racism. Look into your conscience, Ms. Cauley and square your words with those of Dr. Matin Luther King.
4
The Congressional Black Caucus was in a grave mood, because they realize that historic low black unemployment under a completely politically incorrect President means that symbolic victories, e.g., 'kente cloth solidarity' are no longer adequate. Their terrible record on promoting economic growth in the inner city will now be at the forefront of the constituencies mind. They must deliver on economic growth or find other forms of productive employment. The game of race-baiting for votes are numbered.
8
Appeasers and crowd pleasers both will have much to answer for whence civility, reason and virtue make their way back into our heads.
Meanwhile it would be wise for our lungs not to hold their breath.
Our people must be bored to death, thusly driven toward drama as a last ditch bastion for feeling alive. Read a book. Walk in the woods.
Ditch these shiny baubles of crack entertainment. Fight for what’s right, not what makes you feel engaged. Your engagement may be to a devil or a fool or both in this case.
1
Disingenuous Don really outdid himself last night. Glorifying, and rightfully so, the success of a crippled North Korean national who successfully emigrated to freedom in the U.S. just moments before pronouncing that far too many non-Norwegians have been flooding into the country, much to our collective disadvantage.
The hypocrisy does not stop there. Au contraire. The gaggle of reckless and dangerous communist dictators in North Korea, Nicaragua and Cuba present a clear and present danger and, let's face it, may even threaten our very existence. But Russia gets a Mulligan.
Speaking of Mulligans. Let's not talk about Evangelical inconsistencies and just say we did?
Finally, at least this week, I continue to be extremely annoyed by President Trump and his ilk repeatedly pretending to honor and respect law enforcement in general while simultaneously attempting to discredit and dismantle this nation's premier law enforcement agency.
3
"Coal" and "welding" are now code words for white supremacy? I think this is a perfect example of imagining something that you want to see. Trying to appeal to the portion of the electorate that supports you is not inherently racist. We need to move away from calling those we disagree with racists, sexists, or any other -ists. Let's argue about policies and substance, not call names. (And it's not an effective response to say "but that's what they do," We need to be better than our foes; we shouldn't stoop to their level.)
7
Welcome to American politics Ms. Cauley. Republicans know they get few Black votes, but Trump was careful to show Black faces on those he praised by name. The player who knelt knew that would catch criticism but cared not they wished to dramatically make their point about racism. Obama record on helping minorities is what – hard to find. He knew the game of politics very well. Relax and enjoy your day criticism of Trump’s politics is old hat but getting people to the polling place come November is not as easy as it was once. Find issues that Resound.
3
Nothing contributes more to divisiveness than articles such as this one. Trump is our President for the next 3 or 7 years. People who want to play the victim and blame the other for all ills need to look into the mirror.
7
Why are Americans so weak and fearful of everything? Guantanamo prisoners who could be tried in the Federal court system pose no actual threat to anything except public sanity. Immigrants are feared by people who live in places with no immigration. A false alarm in Hawaii results in major panic.
Every hurricane, flood, car crash, train derailment, is treated as an existential threat, and given equal weight. Cat up a tree is the same as a sunken ferry. The immediacy of the media reduces the importance of everything to a lowest common denominator.
Meanwhile, the people who trumpet Home of the Brave are pretty panicky.
2
Racist? Not really. The tax plan is obviously reverse Robin Hood, but dare I say this op-ed seems to be reading in between the lines to fit a racial narrative. Calling all these individuals token? Really? There are non-whites who voted for Trump. There also is the reality that he was elected because of how sick people are with identity politics. Shooting from the hip and turning this into a racial issue when that clearly wasn't the intention of the speech if anything reaffirms the race problem. The problem isn't one of systemic oppression of minorities, but that people are too happy to obsess over race and consider it the root of all their problems. Not everything is based on race. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can get someone competent in office. And until Democrats accept that, and realize that not every word that comes out of a Republican's mouth (or even out of a centrist who don't buy into the victim mentality for that matter) is minced with racial hatred, we'll have actual equality and tolerance. The race card is old. And this op-ed seems pretty far from a nuanced, objective view on the speech
6
Obama was all about intentions--and the rhetoric of intentions. Trump is all about performance--money in the pockets of the poor. Let's see what the poor want: more condescension and handouts or an economy where they have a chance to make it on their own.
7
"Americans are dreamers too." "All Lives Matter." Two rejections of the pain of others, i.e., the Other.
11
Push, push, push. Most of America--non-black-- (87%), despite their feelings about our president, is saying enough. The constant attacks on every comment that is not pro-black at every turn is not only tiresome, but dangerous to all of us. Let's back off and realize we are all Americans. It is a melting pot, you know.
50
Wow - "melting pot". You must be almost as old as me. I remember when we learned about the melting pot: that a nation of immigrants - of all colors and creeds - came together to form and to love to a great American culture. Now that would trigger cries of racism.
3
I really don't get how fighting MS-13 is Bad because somehow it paints all Hispanics as MS-13 members. It just goes to show that the activists on the left of the immigration debate can somehow connect dots that are so far apart most people would never connect them.
Did I think Trump was saying that all Hispanics are MS-13 members and need to be eliminated? I don't see that connection.
MS-13 is an evil gang of thugs who deserve to be wiped off the face of the earth. The fact that they are Hispanic is irrelevant, and the fact that they are often illegal immigrants doesn't mean that 99% of Americans see a guy with tattoos on his face killing people as the same as a man who came here illegally to work at a chicken processing plant to feed his family. It's like the left assumes that every independent and Republican is so hate filled that they would look at the chicken processing family man and see a drugged up gang murderer. I'm sure that a few people are that way, but it's probably about the same amount of people that believe we need to kill children to reduce the population to prevent us from destroying mother earth.
What confuses me is that some Hispanics on the left just assume that a huge proportion of America views all Hispanic people as illegal immigrant gang members. I know zero people who believe that. The left's assumption of everyone else's (60-70% of the nation if you include independents) absolute hatred is scary. Now that's otherism, even xenophobia!
39
The truth is that MS-13 commits a fraction of the crimes in this country, immigrants legal or illegal) commit fewer crimes than native born Americans, and Trump was exactly trying to equate all illegal immigrants with gang members. Illegal immigrants are not a major driver of crime in this country, so why else did he lead his discussion of immigration with MS-13 except for racism?
1
Alexander Harrison, who always tries to be unfailingly fair , did not get that impression at all, that it was a "racist" speech--again the misuse of that word from those who who have not read the works of anthropologists, social scientists who disinter bodies of victims of genocide and dismiss race as invalid--nor did it appeal to white Americans only, but to all Americans. Ethnic nationalism was a favorite "ism"of the Democratic Party going back to antebellum times. Author praises O, but his "Heck, 'let em all in"philospophy hurt black Americans particularly, and under Trump employment of African Americans has risen. Why no hosannas from Pelosi, Hoyer and CBC last night? "Tout compte fait," things were lousy under Obama, and even Dowd wrote that "Barry" thought he was too good for the rest of us!SHS summed it up best in an interview when she said that Dems. would rather see Trump fail than see America succeed, and thus far his admin. has chalked up 1 victory after another in human rights with support for Dreamers, in border security and in employment. Don't recall any of the tech titans like Cook pledging to repatriate billions to the US under Obama.This article is only informative of author's biases, but enlightens us on little else, no se ofenda!
29
Trump runs amok every hour of every day. His personal lifelong racism and hatred of immigrants dominates his actions while at the same time pleasing his band of KKK admirers. He knows how to whip up his under-educated, white racist and Christian fundamentalist base with lies and innuendo. It is the lesson he learned from the worst of dictators- people that Trump admires openly.
Trump is a symbol of our national divide. We thought the Civil War was over but it is not. Residual racism persists. Richard Nixon recognized this when he developed the Southern Strategy promising to fight against civil rights if Southerners voted Republican...and they have voted Red ever since. Trump has adopted the same hateful approach to winning over voters. There is nothing new in the rise of White Nationalism in the United States. it is a resurgence of a dark period of racism in American history that we though we had overcome. Clearly we have not. It is the motor of today's Republican Party...a motor fueled by billionaires for whom greed is the only credo.
23
I'm on a roll. "Welded in a love letter to the white working class of Appalachia and the midwest." ?? Are you kidding? Seventy-five percent of poor in the U.S. are white. Trump scares me, but he wouldn't have the appeal if others. including black co-eds, would inferentially admit that.
24
“Seventy-five percent of the poor in America are white”
That is a truly amazing statistic. Believing that makes me believe Trump’s tax cut for the billionaires will actually pay for itself!
Only a person obsessed with race is going to so pervasively project racist motives onto every word and action with so little basis. The entire conversation about "racism" has exhausted all reason. Everyone is racist. Every institution is racist. If you don't know that you are racist, it is the worst kind of racism. "Racist" is the refuge of those who have nothing substantive to say.
50
No, the irony is that black activists who can see anti-black racism in anything think nothing is wrong with President Obama and the Black Congressional Caucus openly socializing with Louis Farrakhan and this being covered up by the same media who will have a front page story that Trump's hairdressers ex-husband's auto mechanic once went to a Richard Spencer talk and that is proof positive that Trump is a white supremist.
4
Is there a requirement that opinions in the NYT have a minimum amount of logically consistent arguments based on fact? Because whatever that minimum is, this opinion is below it. I don't mind when people bash Trump when he says something idiotic, but there is nothing here that makes the least bit of sense.
51
To commentators who do not empathize with or understand the views expressed in this piece, try harder. When the president talks about murderous immigrants do you really think he’s talking about people like his mother, or does he have a different hue in mind?
17
And white America needs to reject Trumpism utterly. To quote the late Dolores O'Riordan's rejection of those who would commit horrors in the name of her nation:
"You see, that's not me, that's not my family."
Just NO, white nationalist zombies.
6
I am not american and I don't live in the US -Thanks god Jupiter-. I watch the SOTU since Bush and I love american politics because I always saw it as an interesting democratic laboratory .
But I have to say that watching the speech yesterday with all the patriotic USA USA at the end, and all the mascarade of those ordinary people invited for drama entertainment made me think that the US is going a little bit totalitarian...hope I am wrong.
13
I wish you were wrong. Oligarchy leads to Totalitarianism.
1
Describing coal as beautiful indicates Trump is wearing soot colored glasses.
16
So here's the thing. It's evident to everybody that Trump plays to his supporters' racist tendencies. Bad. Disgusting and repulsive to thinking, feeling human beings...and to a large majority of voters. But the Democrat's push back of dressing in black and wearing Kente cloth to protest Trump's State of the Union message is somehow reminiscent of the Hillary Clinton campaign's insistence of raising LGTB rights issues to the top of the platform in the last Presidential election. Is promoting equal rights for all a critical issue? Of course it is! But by holding out individual groups as people uniquely worthy of specific attention/support raises questions in the minds of other potential supporters as to how much the Party cares about them and their problems. ("So, I'm chopped liver now?" The "mainstream" might ask.) If the Dems want to win elections, they'll need to reach out to what should be the solid core of their base (working/middle class America) while letting other stakeholders know they'll get support and a fair deal from your Party and your candidates. And make good on that deal! "We're all in this together" and "Equal rights for all" is a winning coalition message. Carving out stakeholder niches divides us as surely as Republican wedge issues do.
9
The Dems are looking more obstructionist, divisive, anti American and unpatriotic every day. They seem to have a hard time supporting family life, religion and an improving economy. They only seem to support fringe groups, minorities and entitlement groups. The lack of a positive response to low minority unemployment rates, leads one to believe they do not want low unemployment for fear they will lose their votes based on entitlement. Pelosi was particularly disturbing in her scheming, savage look arounds, essentially threatening any Dem that would clap for anything whatsoever, including mom and apple pie. I really do not see her as a role model to any younger democrats. She is hysterically holding on to her position to keep her frail, elderly soul in the game, at the expense of her party. Schumer who I believe used to be a decent man, has sold his soul to the politics, and actually looks embarrassed and severely conflicted. In the meantime, the Repubs and Trump march on and conquer. Like Ceasar in the Gallic wars.
34
Wow. Where were you the last 8 years when the single objective of the republican party was to obstruct every single Obama initiative, every single Democratic initiative. Republicans are simply the party of greed, willful ignorance, and most of all, hypocrisy. Tell me rich - which religion? what sort of family life? Yes, Obama did a great job setting up current improvements in the economy, but tax cuts don't work, trickle down doesn't - one off
"bonuses" are a PR stunt - a trick that the corporate world plays to avoid increasing salaries. Beyond all that - a man giving a speech last night most likely won solely because of Russian meddling - yet the republicans now find Russia just peachy. Give me a break, rick. You are simply wrong on all counts - worse, an utter hypocrite.
It’s about time someone pointed out the contrasts between Obama and Trump. Up until reading this I was unaware that there had even been an election and Obama was gone. I really should get new glasses.
5
How naive can Evelyn Rodriguez be? How can anybody who gets involved with Trump not know by now that they will be used to Trump’s advantage?
4
Let's be fair and remember (not fondly) at the groups that Mr. Obama reserved his wrath for: police officers and small business people, two groups that are the backbone of most of small and medium-sized cities. With officers, Mr. Obama would remark on how they did something "stupid," and he issued judgement in cases before the facts were in.
But Mr. Obama was especially cruel to those, of all races, who owned and ran small businesses, lecturing them that "they didn't build that," and telling them that it was necessary for them to "spread the wealth around," as if many had any wealth to spread!
Those who were insulted by the former president, including me, have not forgotten that. I even made the mistake of voting for him in 2008 and then he wasted no time in insulting my business efforts.
Mr. Trump is far from perfect, but he doesn't belittle police officers, who put their lives on the line for us, and small business people, who are the engine of our economy and for that, I am grateful.
38
Bless you my dear
Trump's speech may not have included specific outright racist statements, but that's because it was itself one of his biggest lies, as well as nonsensical in that it did not maintain a consistent message. He did indeed utter coded racist statements (could we expect anything better from Miller?) and the content, in numerous ways, was designed to misdirect, to make it appear he was somehow making a complete turn around as he now supposedly wants to encourage bi-partisan governance.
This performance (which was read in an excruciatingly slow manner, intended to make him appear to be "presidential" when he typically is not) was pathetically inadequate since much of what he said directly contradicted the reality of his actions and his numerous racist statements and tweets in the past year. And now, with this speech we're supposed to believe he's completely changed and will now behave in a decent, rational, and presidential way? No one with an ounce of intellect bought it.
8
"He repeatedly disparaged nonwhite people during his speech."
If we accept incorrect declarations like this just because we imagine ourselves to be mostly aligned with a writer's previously stated positions, we are no better than those we struggle against -- and indeed, we dive willingly into the realm of hypocrisy.
Moreover: There are SO many clear-cut instances of him doing this elsewhere, why do you feel the need to make such an unsubstantiated claim here? Not only do you destroy your credibility, you pass over the chance to explain how this other evidence contradicts and outweighs his SOTU words.
Very disappointing.
27
This opinion piece is spot on. Ms. Cauley succinctly, thoroughly, and logically outlines the "dog whistles" Trump sent last night–now he sends out his policy signals with a bullhorn. The racism/white supremacy that Trump exhibits is institutional. He criminalizes Latinos by equating gangs with Dreamers, yet he never mentions the mass shootings perpetrated by and large by white men. The Republican Party is hand in glove with Trump. They want to limit legal immigration as well. They don't like the "browning" of America. Well, too bad. Immigrants are here to stay.
10
It is--hypocrisy? foolishness? self-sabotage?--to say we should all come together, while simultaneously finding racism everywhere you look.
20
Hard to triage that triad of noble virtues.
" finding racism everywhere you look." What is hypocritical or foolish about that? The racism is real! Your comment is part of the problem - it's like getting a wife beater to change. He's so mired in his abusive world he doesn't even see himself as abusing the wife - most of the time he think's HE is the victim. Watch the video below if you want to actually learn about the issue. Also, one more thing - coming together sometimes involves admitting hard truths. Just look at the truth and reconciliation process in Liberia.
Racism in the United States: By the Numbers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQdMgtncpoE
"On average, black men's prison sentences are 20% longer than white men's for comparable crimes: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142...
Black people and white people use illegal drugs at similar rates, but black people are far more likely to be arrested for drug use ..."
Trump only cares about himself. And getting votes in the right places to eek out a victory. Thus his constant caressing of his "base".
Trump's base are the only Americans that matter to him while he needs their votes. Trump will do and say anything to keep his base fawning over him. Thus last night he produced his latest reality TV show which predictably riled up the racism and bigotry to remind his base that they still need HIM to make their lives better.
On the off chance that many in America do not experience the miracle of the middle class tax cut and find their expenses (especially medical) rising faster than their paycheck, Trump was there to assure them that he can make their lives much safer by protecting them from the rampant crimes and ungrateful patriotism of people of color.
It works every time. Funny how Trump and the GOP play the Ultimate in identity politics - White Nationalism - while accusing all others of playing the race card too often.
The GOP has been doing this song and dance for decades using law, order and patriotism as their false shield. Trump has come along and brutishly exposed their game causing the GOP to lament the coastal elites as American hating/immigrant loving horrible people.
It's the old tired GOP rant on steroids. And Trump uses it very well. Trump does not want unity for America. If there was unity and bipartisan compromise, who would Trump attack as evil and then save us from? He needs that fake scenario.
13
Ed- it sure is a good thing that no white politicians enrich themselves and ignore the needs of their constituents! In that case, your argument would not hold up.
1
With FEMA's announcement that they will no longer provide food and water to the citizens of Puerto Rico, I encourage everyone surviving there, (surviving, not properly living) to please move to Florida, Texas and North Carolina and vote Democrat in the next elections. Since the white racists in charge will never change they must be disempowered and disenfranchised.
20
Ironic this is coming only days after the news broke that Obama socialized with Louis Farrakhan at an event on Capitol Hill sponsored by the Black Congressional Caucus. This paper has yet to report it despite several articles since then about far pettier black grievences. In that photo they (Obama, Farrakhan, and CBC members) all look so relaxed around each other. Than there is the photo of Michelle Obama, Jesse Jackson's wife, and a prominent black judge all embrasing Farrakhan's wife. I saw this photo in 2008. I'm Jewish and don't you ever tell me Nation of Islam is less of a hate group than Aryan Nation, Richard Spencer, etc. I am very well read on both and they are not. The difference is it is socially permissible in liberal circles to turn a blind eye to this virulent hatred while simultaneously denouncing racism without anyone taking this to task. If Ms. Cauley has no problem with the open association of prominent blacks with NOI she has nothing to gripe about whites who favor their own. If she does have a problem with it then let's see an op-ed denouncing it as strongly as this is worded.
47
The author has made important points, some of which have been irritatingly overlooked in the mainstream media.
The State of the Unicorn, indeed!
3
Wow. The President's program is anti-black, even as black unemployment drifts down to historic lows.
Go figure.
What an incredible deception on his part!!!
Incredible. Yes, incredible.
26
Yet that low black unemployment was already in place by Obama. There isn't anything that trump has done so far to cause unemployment to go down. So far all the economic gains have been trends started by Obama. Trump's so called tax cuts haven't taken effect yet.
10
Oh for goodness sake. The decline in black unemployment is simply the extrapolation of the economic policies initiated by President Obama; one of his few policies that Trump has not yet managed to overturn.
7
Obama's civil rights record was modest at best. When he took office, 38%of prisoners were black. When he stepped down, 38% of prisoners were black. Obamacare mostly helped whites (42%) and Hispanics (32%). 15% of the newly-insured were blacks. The poverty gap for blacks remained shockingly high during the Obama administration. And his gun control focus related mostly to relatively rare mass shootings like Newtown, not daily gang violence in the inner cities.
From Harvard Law School to the Senate, Oabma lived mostly in a white world. (He was a community organizer for three years. I taught in a black high school for three years. But I remain white.) He now lives in a neighborhood that is 4% black.
Obama's high school basketball team was white and Hawaiian. Most of his Cabinet basketball teammates were white. And, particularly telling, he sent both his daughters to overwhelmingly white schools.
Mr. Obama is half black by ethnicity, and much less by affiliation. His signature black moment was singing Amazing Grace, a popular black spiritual written by a white man.
There are lots of so-called blacks who are mostly white. Obama is one of them. When you compare Trump with Obama, you compare an oblivious white man with a man who is mostly black in and mostly white otherwise. When someone like Martin Luther King is elected President, someone identified with the black community through and through, we will have our first black President.
18
I voted for Obama twice and for Clinton. Clearly, my sympathies are for inclusion and equality. Yet, it seems to me that assimilation and equality is not the goal of so many black leaders. That is also part of the problem.
It was explained to me that all the black man needs to do is thrust his chest forward and the white guy backs down, such is the joke in the black community.
In the face of this, are whites permitted to even mention their interests without being accused of racism?
22
Even after he claimed President Obama had not been born in the US; that many among those entering the US from Mexico were "rapists"; that "good people" had carried the Nazi flag in Charlottesville; allowed known white supremists to serve in the WH; attacked the patriotism of Black athletes; turned away from civil rights enforcement in DOJ; and, has tried mightily to take funding from programs especially useful for People of Color, many folks still don't wish to acknowledge his and their own racism. White denial is the gift that keeps giving.
12
Well, there is another white group doing something similar. Yes, I am talking about affirmative action by the "liberal" elite institutions. The ruling elites want their kids to have some experiences with minorities. I call it "zoo experience". Tell me what the difference is?! I never heard anybody complaining about the irony. The point is we all try to make the most when we can. I think Trump is not particularly bad. He just doesn't hide behind. Get real.
10
The DNC also chose a very rich white man to make a case for “the resistance” . Did anyone notice that?
20
The difference is that despite his family’s wealth, Kennedy, like his forebears, has devoted himself to public service, while Trump has devoted his life to self service.
1
The picture accompanying this article is quite telling... Which country exactly are the members of the Congressional Black Caucus demonstrating allegiance to by wearing the African kente cloth accessories? Certainly not the United States of America.
It's kind of like how they put foreigners in this country illegally ahead of actual American citizens.
Just like the author of this article, the real calls for division are coming loudly and most often from the Left, even as Republicans and the President call for unity and cooperation.
The Left can try to blame the president all they want, but it's clear who is really trying to drive a wedge between us: The same Left-wing demagogues who shout "Tolerance!" the loudest, while in fact calling for everyone else to agree with them or pay the price.
The Left is a party of hypocrites and nothing more. It's always been this way and it always will be.
37
What about Italians, Greeks, Irish, Russians, or any other hyphenated group you could name, who honor the cultures of their ancestors in tandem with their American identity, do they deserve equal condemnation? Should
an Irish American not where the tartan of his clan. Are those his "cloth accessories"?
And regarding your statement of the Left being divisive "even as the Republicans and Trump truly seek unity and cooperation". Let's hope that is what the GOP is doing. Let's assume then that the Republicans will no longer pass shoddily patched together partisan legislation behind closed doors and in the dead of night. Let's expect that they will end the chain of CF's and passing the buck lawmaking or having Pence swoop in like a vampiric deux ex machina to pass laws that only address the concerns of the wealthy or Trumps voters. Otherwise, there'll be no end in sight.
7
@S A Johnson — I didn’t see anyone wearing a kilt in the House chamber, did you?
There’s a time and a place. The State of the Union address was neither.
1
SA Johnson. They groups you mentioned are not wearing that attire to the SOTU address of the United States. Nice attempt at a straw man though.
1
Why are all the “pundits” who keep asking why Nunes and Ryan are going full force into obstruction of justice not seeing the obvious answer: They have been paid off. Pure and simple. Money talks. That’s their entire motive.
7
Proof?
1
Trump perceives race in a way that tries to be subtle but ultimately fails. To bring in "model" minorities, if this can be said, who are exemplary (to Trump) because they distinguish between the "good" and the "bad" in their ethnic group is a disgusting move by the president. Trump is nothing but a champion of one group of whites.
3
Low unemployment unifies us all.
20
Black unemployment could go down to zero, but the Congressional Black Caucus would still be sitting on their hands because they have a vested interest in a permanent black underclass which is the only thing that justifies their existence and lines their pockets. As Louis Farrakhan once pointedly remarked in the presence of Jesse Jackson, no black leader worthy of the name should be enriching himself with the benefits and favor of political office while the people he supposedly leads are not benefiting. While Farrakhan spoke, Jackson just sat there with a sour look on his face. The author of this op-ed piece praises Obama for believing that "diversity" will ensure the "security and prosperity" of the people, but I couldn't see that anyone really benefited except himself with all his book deals, huge speaking fees, and vacation trips on the yachts of billionaires. I would, therefore, put him and all the other black politicians who do nothing to help their own people in the same boat.
27
As a white man, urban dweller of a diverse city and in an interracial relationship, I’m always amused by people who think Trump isn’t racist. If that’s the case, how has that man managed to offend and insult practically every one of my friends and significant other.
Now, if some of you did some actual research about who you’re getting into bed with, you would know that Donald and his father, Fred, were sued in 1973 for systematically discriminating against black people in housing rentals.
I’ll give anybody a chance to get out into the world, learn, grow and evolve. However, Trump has not done any of those things and he proves it everyday.
164
@Bryan: I don't care whether Fred Trump was a member of the KKK or intel. chief for the Cagoule, we are dealing with the here and now, and Trumps' recipe for economic success is catching on with those who could not earn a decent living when O was president because of his open borders philosophy, willingness to let practically anyone in and their relatives. Believe 0 showed disrespect for the citizenry, led them to feel that those who were here illegally had the same rights as those who were born on US soil or naturalized. African American community understands now under Trump that open borders poses a threat to its economic well being, lowers wages.Ironic, isn't it that in city like Chicago where citizens need all the help they can get, Mayor Emmanuel supports sanctuary cities, not only dangerous but costly to tax payers.There would be no crime on city's south side if resources expended on sanctuary cities were allocated to US citizens living in that perilous zone.
2
If he is offending everyone that doesn't back up your claim that he is a racist it means he is offensive. As far as whether he is a racist or not I don't have a clue, but I'm not going to judge based on something they did in 1973 (45 years ago).
2
Why no mention of the white American mass shooters in Vegas & a Texas church who killed & injured record numbers of victims? The illegal immigrants were not nearly as prolific in their killing. Since Trump likes to brag about record numbers maybe he should mention the record number of shooting victims, except then he might have to consider doing something about it then.
12
President mentioned horrible shootings in Las Vegas. Check Tape.
11
True, but he did NOT point out that there is a YUGE problem with angry white men who acquire weapons which have been used to kill and injure scores of innocent people.
“Shooting while white...”
History unfortunately gives absolutely no support to the Steve Miller agenda. Yes, we did have merit based immigration--under the English. Most of them became Tories and when the US was founded that ridiculous idea was canned. Yes, America was founded a a Christian nation by the English under the Church of English, that idiocy was canned when the Revolution was successful. Yes immigrants are less crime (how many mass shootings have been done by immigrants?), they or their children have founded 4/9 of all Fortune 500 companies, and whoever heard of an immigrant family on welfare? In my lifetime I saw the Portuguese and Brazilians rehab the Ironbound in Newark, saw the Haitians restore the solvency of Newark manufacturing businesses, and saw NYC expand during the recession due to the new businesses and jobs developed by immigrant entrepenurs. Most Trump voters live in 5/6 of the counties in the country and most are 95% white. Adorable, but they only produce 1/4 of the GNP of the country, although the blue countries, who produce 3/4 of the GNP of the country pay billions to support these ner-do-wells. Time to realize we are in the 21st century, not the 20th.
7
Interesting only one CBC member thought it was good news that the black unemployment rate is the lowest it's ever been under the Trump administration. Sad.
16
The troubling State of the Union was the mention of MS-13 and the horror of a young woman murdered, yet we had a White male sit gleefully at a Las Vegas Hotel Window and mow down concert goers, and white gun man entering a church service, well you know the things that our American society seems to accept as normal. How many mass shooters were illegal immigrants?
7
Ms. Cauley - I'm white, but I don't feel supported by Trump. As a non-Christian, I feel threatened. In addition to his nationalist message, White Christianity was repeatedly referenced as a clarion call to arms to defeat the scourge in the "homeland" and abroad.
96
All this hammering away about immigration, by a rich-white-privileged-urban-male, is shameful. The "profile" we are presented, in this new immigration meritocracy, is of god-fearing, christians, with skills and education, who will compliment the needs of rich-white-privileged-urban-male-centered-corporations -- yet another example of corporate welfare. That is not what immigration in this country is all about, supplying a ready source of labor, while tearing apart familial systems of other cultures. There is so much hypocrisy in this, I am staggered by any attempts to rebut it. To even hear words like that spoken by a president is both chilling and shameful. To the extent of my ability, I will not let these people reframe bigotry as "immigration reform."
3
I couldn’t even watch it, as actions speak louder than words!
Meanwhile, instead of considering what's actually being said here, the right-wing rebuttal to this perspective is that "Liberals trot out racism when they're being sore losers".
I've been poking around "conservative"-minded corners of the American news media to get some various perspectives on the SoTU speech. Nobody has anything to say about Trump's commentary, except that maybe the economy is good. Otherwise, they rage about how the Democrats didn't applaud him enough and looked sour. There are literally thousands of comments bashing Democrats as unAmerican and hateful, stated carte blanche as though this is a fact of life instead of a refutable generalization. Instead of talking about Kennedy's rebuttal, they say that "JFK is rolling in his grave" and carry on about some schmutz the guy had on his lip.
We are really in a problematic place. There is no dialog or unity available when one half of the equation has zero interest in dialog or unity, and regard obeisance to someone like Trump as the only acceptable behavior.
4
I think the headline is biased, as is the writer.Trump like us all is highly imperfect. But the man made a good effort last night.He showed empathy for invited guests and the ordeals they had to endure. He is putting his own country first;which in reality is one of his major responsibilities.He wants American companies investing in America and it's people. He is aware of incomes not increasing over the years despite phenomenal increases in productivity.He wants to see a strong military because that is fundamental to protecting the United States and its citizens.
He gave an optimistic view of America's past present and future. Because he realizes in order to do incredible things a leader must create a sense of optimism.It is then up to the populace to go out and make things happen.
17
I certainly understand where Kashana Cauley is coming from. She is speaking for millions of Americans (especially non-white Americans) who are at best skeptical about what President Trump said last night and are at worst angry and afraid of him. Beyond his speech (and a handful of belated Twitter posts), the President has not done much to reassure anyone that he is willing to back down from his hostile and (yes) even racist language towards those he disagrees with.
President Obama was far from a perfect President. But throughout his entire Presidency, I never doubted his intentions to help as many Americans as he could. If anything, he was stymied by an opposition that - from the very beginning - was unwilling to work with him on any issue and that was determined to undermine any of his accomplishments.
I therefore find it more than a little ironic that the Republicans are lamenting about the Democrats unwillingness to compromise with the President.
The "Us versus Them" mentality has existed in American politics long before Presidents Trump - or Obama - ever came into office. I can only hope that we can somehow find a way to overcome that mentality before our democracy suffers irreparable damage,
95
OLIHIST:Many of those "non white Americans" who are gainfully employed thanks to the stimuli c-in-c has initiated in the economic sector, and who are also grateful for his efforts to curb illegal immigration, unlike his predecessor, since it means more jobs and higher wages all around, are not concerned about Obama's good intentions. Good intentions never produced jobs, which Trump is apparently good at.To use that worn out cliche,metaphor, Trump hit it out of the park last night, and the sour, despondent looks on faces of Pelosi, Schumer, Gutierrez, who many thought was having a nervous breakdown when he literally ran out of the hall, said it all! Believe that shallowness of the Democratic message was revealed, and perhaps those who predict a Dem. sweep in November might wish to reconsider!
2
Obama was all about intentions--and the rhetoric of intentions. Trump is about performance--money the in pockets of the poor. Let's what the poor want more, more condescension and handouts or an economy where they have a chance to make it on their own.
1
For a brief moment, I dared to hope that the reason he made a big deal about bringing the two families who lost their two daughters to attend the SOTU was because he was going to initiate new gun laws in our country. Silly me.
88
Those poor people. I think Trump included them, and the Latino ICE agent because he wanted to convince people that his immigration policies aren't racist. If you look at his 30 Point Plan you'll see they are just that. As for him having a hand in any new gun laws? His base would have his head. I'm afraid we must see these brokenhearted guests as a part of the grotesque manipulation that we were subjected to last night.
3
Where were the victims families killed by white supremacist hate groups? I guess they don’t count since white terrorism is okay.
2
Clearly we are to be "united" with those who have no legal business being here.
22
Trump’s speech was aimed at white people who somehow should be in fear of their lives from MS-13 which is so small as to be irrelevant in the realm of daily threats for most Americans. Immigration too is a non issue. America’s wealth is not going to immigrants, BELIEVE ME.
22
There was much in Trump's speech that was problematic. But to juxtapose that against the sayings/writings/policies of your black president as if he was so much better is self deluding at best or down right dishonest at worst. And as a black woman who presumably is concerned about her community it seems to me that would be pretty clear. But then the question is - WHO is your community? Black america or the Democratic party?
17
So subtle. So smooth in his delivery. Those who aren't attuned to it, can't recognize it. It seems that the pitch of the dog whistle has been adjusted and may be too high now as some don't hear it anymore. I heard it. I think Ms. Cauley did as well.
30
I was always intrigued on how such atrocities the like ; slavery, world wars, genocides and so forth happened in this earth, because the vast majority of people under 40 years old have been spare (to this day) on being eye witness to those cruelties , but listening to trump talk,with all the power that come to one being ,US President :just freeze me sometime
He is a DESPOT that ,if we don’t be carful , will lead us to places where the world haven’t seen
in years.
9
I am not a fan of President Trump. I find him and his rhetoric uncouth, divisive, sometimes racist, and often untruthful. I consider myself a Democrat. However, while I disagree with the President and Republican policy, I found the rhetoric of this op-ed just as divisive and equally unhelpful in the goal of allowing us to find common ground and rebuild alliances. Too many people in this country, from every diverse element of it, have enormous chips on their shoulders. It's time to shed them.
56
Well said!
7
If you’re not a black woman, then pretend to be one. Please put yourself in the shoes of the writer, even it it’s temporarily uncomfortable. Thanks.
2
After reading Ms. Cauley's op-ed, I started to write something about her last thought, "Mr. Trump cares to unite only white Americans," thinking they seem just as divided as everyone else. After reading the comments, I think I was wrong. Nothing unifies NYT's readers of both a liberal and conservative bent more than a black opinion writer whose subject is race or racism--in this case the demonstrably racist Donald Trump.
I think I'm a reasonable person, but the (thinly) veiled racial resentment of many white readers of the NYT from both sides of the political spectrum ("I'm a Democrat, but ..." "I don't like Donald Trump, but ...") never ceases to amaze me. If Donald Trump had trotted out a bunch of white women or Democrats, there would be no end to the comments decrying his cynicism and tokenism. As much as many readers of these pages wail against Donald Trump, when people of color, especially black writers, point out his hypocrisy and, yes, racism, they're accused of inserting race into everything--when he's spent the last year doing just that without the least bit of subtlety regarding his message. Physicians, heal thyselves.
5
Thank you, Kashana Cauley, for having the courage to state these facts that are hidden in plain sight. They are hidden by the cowardice of those in Congress who plainly see what is going on, yet remain silent. They are hidden by a public willing to accept platitudes thrown as a moldy bone to gullible dogs. Such is the bile-laced drivel that leaks from the mouth of the Commander-in-Chief. The deep tax cuts were a gift to Corporate America, and a lethal stab to the back of everyday people who are the reason for their obscene wealth.
There is no doubt that this country was founded upon, and spent much of its adolescence reinforcing racism, sexism and genocide. As a people, we have inched forward painfully in the last century. In the early years of the 21st Century, we appear on a vertiginous backslide into the land of the brainwashed and the home of the cowardly.
We should be ashamed of ourselves. But more importantly, we should act, and act now to oppose, at every turn, the agenda of hate and unilateral nationalism that infects us like a Stage 4 cancer. The time is now.
14
Reminds we of the story of the Boy who Cried Wolf. Progressives have been calling conservatives racists for decades - now we might actually have a real one in the White House few care.
9
Progressives have not been calling conservatives ‘racists’ for decades. However, if the shoe fits, wear it. Thanks.
3
Mr.Trump is an equal opportunity insulter.He insults people who believe in the constitution and American ideals. He goes on to insult people of color and those not born in the United States.He insults women and those not part of the one per cent.He even insults children by not caring about their health or education. If you are not Mr. Trump or one of his cronies consider yourself insulted!
10
"if last night was about unity, Mr. Trump cares to unite only white Americans."
Not all of us!
8
It’s not the words Trump reads off of a teleprompter, it’s what he says, does, and tweets when he is on his own, that his white nationalism shows its ugly face. For Trump and his minions, minorities were seen as being useful for helping to build the America we currently inhabit, but that was then. Today, our coat of many colors is being thrown into the bleach cycle.
3
The emperor to be has no clothes. One doesn't need an x ray to see that in his heart, Trump's an avowed racist. He's not even subtle about it. Trump spoke as if most immigrant Latinos are part of MS 13, basically repeating his xenophobic comments that they are rapists and criminals. Au contraire, they are the ones who work the hardest for the least amount of money. Just check out Trump hotels. And he made innuendos about black footballs players taking a knee. He can pander all he wants to his base and republicans, but he's fooling nobody. To use his language, he's a dirtbag.
12
A sad, blinkered, victimized and racist take on innocuous language.
I left out “hopeless”. That is is.
22
Wow, do you advance the debate by calling this woman a racist. It’s such a schoolyard world that some of us have not left behind.
2
If we're just analyzing Trump's SATU, then this op-ed writer is gerrymandering irresponsibly. He did not at all only focus on white Americans, even if his focus elsewhere was debatably distorted. I wonder what this writer thinks of Hillary and her "super predator" comments. Sure hope she wouldn't give HRC a free pass.
16
What does this article have to do with Mrs Clinton?
1
Ms. Cauley has drawn the ire of the Fox crowd, who are out in numbers today in the comments section.
12
My goodness. He is proposing the legalization of 1.8 million (not 700,000) almost all non white Dreamers. He wants to change the family immigration rules which mostly helps Asians and South of the border folks, at the expense of other continents, particularly Africa. I am not quite sure how that fits into your closed minded analysis.
29
By other continents, do you perhaps mean Europe?
What part of Minnesota do you live in that makes you see the DACA recipients as ‘non-white’? That’s really far-fetched.
1
An article that seems to come from some other dimension, it is so unreasonable. Truly unbelievable.
42
There are so may leaps of logic in this piece one hardly know where to begin, but here is one of the most telling:
"The historic lows in African-American and Latino unemployment that he mentioned last night are partly a direct result of the productivity of hundreds of thousands of workers he wishes to deport."
What on earth? Note to journalist: when you sacrifice your intellectual integrity to make a point, you end up sacrificing both.
49
Sorry to disappoint, but the US is pretty much the child of the Western European intellectual tradition--Locke, Hume, Magna Carta, et al. If that's what is meant by "White Nationalist"--so be it.
29
Divisive as usual. Let's race-bait to give her (and Jemele) their platform.
Here's an idea - if you don't like it, leave.
19
Don’t like what and leave what?
Funny how it is very popular to make fun of white Americans these days. We are the cause of all problems in America according to Ms. Cauley. I don't think Mr. Trump is a racist although you obviously do. Illegal Immigration hurts African Americans as well as whites and lawful Latino immigrants. I presume you believe anyone who voted for Mr. Trump is a racist. In essence deploreables. Those 63,000,000 people cost Hillary Clinton the election. They aren't all racists.
59
No, they may not all be racists, but they are okay with electing one. Stop mentioning Hillary Clinton. She is not the president. The election was 449 days ago, let it go. This is not about her; stop using her as a crutch in arguments and debates, it's getting tiresome. The article never mentioned the words Hillary or Clinton anywhere. This is about holding the current occupant of the White House accountable for his words and actions. First it was "Give him a chance". Well, that came and went, and the majority of Americans have spoken. We are not pleased with what we see and hear from Trump or his representatives. We are allowed, and should be encouraged to criticize our leaders when needed. We are a free people, for now that is.
3
Perhaps not in Des Moines, but around here every co-worker and neighbor who voted for Trump is and they are proud of it. I have been told to my face they want to put all minorities "back in their place".
3
Illegal immigration is tormenting Trump all the time. Trump disrupts the lives of all Americans, every day from dawn to dusk when he shares his tormented brain with us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s immigration or not, he will push his tormented, twisted, childish, narcissistic brain on all of us; immigration not withstanding.
I have yet to hear an argument for not allowing unlimited voluntary migration to the United States. Statistically, it would lower the crime rate and grow the economy more than equivalent population growth.
Every single argument comes down to craven racism.
8
Okay, here's a few. There might be a billion people in this world who would prefer to live here. You might be okay with taking our population for 330 million to 1.3 billion but most Americans would reject it on many levels; environmental, infrastructure, overwhelming our ability to assimilate them, overwhelming our ability to vet them. Here's another, water finds it's own level, the average world household income is under 10k while the US household income is 50k. With no borders US wages would eventually return to the global mean.
12
While I am philosophically sympathetic, and sadly I have little doubt that a vast majority of anti-immigration rhetoric is thinly veiled racial animus and fear, I think you're misinformed that there are no mainstream economic arguments against a sudden and unilateral removal of all US immigration restrictions, and you should consider looking up what those are rather than pretend you've already done your due diligence. As for the crime rate, you are correct, of course, that the crime rates of immigrants in the United States are lower than among the general population. Interestingly this holds true for naturalized American citizens vs. the general population. However, surely part for the lower crime rate (but not all of it) comes from the fact that immigrants who commit crimes are deported, whereas criminal US citizens are imprisoned, released, and then often arrested for new crimes repeatedly. What was your theory for immigrants committing crime at lower rates? Do you have any theory about how crime rates differ within different communities and over different time periods? I recommend "The Better Angels of Our Nature" by Stephen Pinker, it's a brick but it's outstanding.
3
Was Cesar Chavez a racist?
4
Did Democrats learn anything at all from the last election except how to throw victory away? If you "stay the course" of fighting tooth and nail for illegal immigrants when most Americans are worried about other things, you'll lose and lose and lose again. Even liberals, like me, gnash our teeth at the beyond dumb things you do like shutting down the government over an issue you cannot win. What good is fighting the good fight when the winner throws you down a well so deep it will take decades to crawl out. Blue wave coming? Not at this rate.
64
It boggles my mind that, with republicans in control of all branches of government, that it is still the democrats fault.
Because everything always is
Ms. Cauley’s take on things is mainstream for the left but skewed – understandably but predictably.
Not that Trump is the president we should be looking to in order to unify us, regardless of his claims to the contrary – he was elected for other reasons – but when you TRULY wish to unify such a diverse set of communities as ours, you need to get beyond identities, which merely divide us into increasingly atomistic interests, each seeking a bigger piece of the pie at the expense of all other interests.
Or … aren’t there African Americans among the ranks of coal miners (yes, there are)? Aren’t there black welders in America (a ton)? Do WASP Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans – so MANY others -- need good jobs LESS than African Americans? Good healthcare? Some might say “yes”, and I’d suggest that they’ve put aside arguing for “unity” and begun arguing a specific interest that has nothing to do with “unity”.
True unifying seeks to emphasize the broad themes that DO unify us, not those that may actually separate us by parochial interests.
Sorry, but it seems to me that Ms. Cauley merely seeks to “unify” us in a collective resolve to assist one identity in its pursuit of its own interests, and may not understand at all what true national “unity” is. It could surprise her and a lot of you, But Donald Trump could understand it a lot better than you do.
37
Brilliant!
6
Tom:
That's appreciated, coming from Aquinas!
4
Unfortunately, you are right on. Very sad that the ugliest of ugly Americans could rise from the mire to be our President.
1
the author is one of those who never acknowledges progress, as there is too much political mileage to be gained by seeing racism everywhere 100% of the time.
61
I agree the VSG is a divider of American society. He has represented white wealthy business up to and as a resident of the White House. I'm white, middle aged and would not for a million dollars stand beside or behind this VSG. What then, motivates any African American to be aligned with him? I do not comprehend how it. I just don't.
1
There are plenty of them who have. The one's who have not fallen for the divisive politics of the DNC.
2
I think the author wrote this before the SOTU and just couldn’t come up with anything after the speech in terms of revisions.
If you think Trump is a racist, fine but that wasn’t a white nationalist speech.
33
For those not finding any overt racism in the speech, ask yourself this:
Why is Trump focusing on people who have been injured or killed by hispanic gang members, while ignoring the fact that our largest terrorist threat comes from angry, white American men wielding guns and firing on their fellow citizens?
If he really wanted to solve problems and help America, he would adopt the perspective of many different kinds of Americans. He is incapable of doing that.
It's not always what's in the speech, but what's left out of it.
133
I'm sympathetic to Ms. Cauley's position, and it's undeniable that with ideologues like Stephen Miller in the administration, there is a powerful and terrifying strain of nativist, ethno-nationalism at work in the Executive Branch.
That said, this piece is reads like a sophomoric, hyperbolic blog post, and makes it all the easier for Trump's defenders to ridicule those who would correctly point out the danger of the administration's ethno-nationalist tendencies and propaganda.
17
Hasn't Trump insulted people all across the skin tone spectrum?
Perhaps the author of this piece is a little too quick assigning racial animosity to Trumps sotu.
If Trumps wall works as advertised the value of labor and opportunity increases across the skin tone spectrums..especially the most poor and disadvantaged of our own Citizens.
9
Perhaps North Korea and its nuclear weapons were mentioned because that happens to be a serious threat to the security of the United States and its allies South Korea and Japan. The author is in need of a reality check.
30
The mention wasn't the problem. It was the sophmoric rhetoric. (Yes, I was a sophmore back in the dark ages.) I am tired of depending on the dictator of North Korea to be the adult in the room.
All the King's Horses and all the King's Men, will never put the USA together again, and that is for the best.
1
If so, it is not because if Trump.
It is because of the downward spiral of education and the reduction of educated people in this country. Sad, but true.
If we are on our way out in the next 50-300 years á la the Roman Empire, history will attest to the attenuation of standards of civility, including the elimination of the intelligent class.
3
It has gone past discussing cause. It is a Fait Accompli, a done deal. Pfft, it's over!
1
It is obvious that Kashana Cauley did not watch Trump's speech with an open mind. She had already decided that it was going to be racist and all she needed were a few details. As it turned out she had to really search for anything that was remotely racist. How can admonishing people for not standing for the national anthem be racist? I was taught that was the respectful thing to do when I was in grade school. And is it wrong to be proud of our fellow countrymen ?
39
I agree with the author that the tone could have been more conciliatory. But I really don’t understand this passage:
“The historic lows in African-American and Latino unemployment that he mentioned last night are partly a direct result of the productivity of hundreds of thousands of workers he wishes to deport.”
The last time I checked, increased productivity means less workers are needed in the short term.
10
This piece is outstanding. I would add that Trump's declaration that "Americans are dreamers, too,” is invidious in another way: In saying that "Americans" are also "dreamers," Trump is implying that the group referred to as "Dreamers" are actually NOT Americans. Whether they have official U.S. documents or not, young people who have lived here practically their whole lives ARE Americans. Sending them back to their countries of origin, where they have no connections and may not even know the language, is the height of cruelty.
I know the situation from my own experience here in Germany: my husband (a Greek citizen) and I have raised our daughters trilingually--however, the fact is, having grown up here, attended school here, having all their friends here, they are much more German than any other nationality. My youngest daughter was given German citizenship at birth. My older daughter (born before the law was changed to allow children of permanent residents to acquire German citizenship) is going to apply for it in the next few years: after all, she lives here, works here and wants to have the rights of a full citizen. If the German government suddenly decided to deport her to Greece or the U.S. she would be totally lost. I am sure the same things applies to those young people who were protected by DACA.
9
The author claims, "President Obama understood that our country’s diversity was one of its greatest strengths and painted an inclusive picture of how America could move forward."
Seems to me that if one wants to consider "diversity" as a strength, then that diversity needs to refer to all population subgroups, i.e. African Americans, Anglo Americans, German Americans, Hispanic Americans, Indian Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Native Indian Americans, and so forth. "Diversity" cannot, and should not, be limited to references to so-called "minority" groups.
18
Democrats would do better to refer to "majority privilege" rather than "white privilege," i.e. the majority race in a country sees itself as the norm (Chinese in China, Japanese in Japan, Arabs over imported labor in the Persian Gulf, etc.). The reality is, the small states, which have outsized clout in elections, are mostly white and Democrats will need white voters in those states if they hope to win elections.
8
Kind of a stretch, right? You may not agree with Trump’s policies but concluding his speech was only about unifying white nationalists finds little basis in fact, and the author’s contorted interpretation of events last night is dismally cynical. Perhaps cynicism is an understandable result of the past year. That should not cloud our capacity for reason.
26
During the whole speech, Trump said almost nothing that could even be interpreted as controversial within the whole context of the speech, as well as mentioning that African American and Hispanic unemployment rates were at all-time lows, and introducing many people that have often gone through incredible things. The awkwardness and rudeness of the Democrats' side (by and large but not entirely) would've been laughable if not for the though that elected officials were too immature to recognize a good thing simply because it came from someone with a different opinion on a few matters (rather than, as they saw it to be, and enemy).
15
One has to work hard to connect those dots .... the writer has her own issue to work through. And some wonder why we are divided - not I.
18
I'm an educated white male, to demonstrate a point to colleagues, I started playing a golf game. I have switched names, and skin color for my player, I've used brown skin, and used a Latin, surname. Since we are playing on line many players from all over the country play. What I've discovered is 3 of every 10 random players (the game picks them), will text (there is a chat box) "build the wall" or "go back home wet back". When I have switched my player to a white male, I get a whole different response.
My point is, without even knowing that I'm white, just the fact that my player is brown skinned, and used a Latino surname, provoked a nasty response from them, and that's sad. Those people have already limited their world view to a tiny narrow pin point, they listen to old white men in power blame people of color for all their problems. So that those elected officials Sessions comes to mind, can rob them. Mexicans didn't just pass a tax bill that will literally take money out of their own constituents pockets, the GOP did. Mexicans aren't stripping money out of education, healthcare, no, old white men who's day has come and gone, who don't want to let their Jim Crow segregation go, are the root cause of all their constituents jobless problems.
Even with a huge tax cut, big business has laid off thousands of workers since 2011. Tillerson, collected 180 million dollars while laying off 70,000 workers. Stumph collected 140 million while committing 1 million counts of fraud.
13
I hear you. You get treated quite differently when people assume you are a member of a minority group. You would be surprised how many nasty comments like "go back to Mexico" and "get off welfare" I get when I post comments at various sites. The bigots are quite surprised when I reply "Don't make assumptions about my ethnicity based on a screen name that I chose. I use this name because I like it, and because it smokes out the bigots. Gotcha!" This really drives them crazy.
This author obviously has a closed mind. Nothing that was ever going to be said or presented last night in the State of the Union Address was going to be seen as positive or constructive. I'm no fan of our President, but I grow weary of this constant barage of negative race based vitriol filled with the same bitter criticism and malice, day after day. The ironey is that Mr Trump put forth many of the same policy platitudes as his predecessor.
138
Once again someone lowers the bar for Trump. Nothing he said was positive or constructive and why should the author pretend otherwise? Trump did not put forth many of the same platitudes as Obama. In fact almost everything he said was the exact opposite. Save a throw away line for an infrastructure plan that isn't actually a plan and has zero chance of happening.
9
It is so important to speak out when there is justice, corruption and outrage. It's important. Even if it is over and over. That is what is required. That is what must continue. I totally agree with you, D., it is wearying, and I too grow weary. But we must not stop.
7
I'm pretty sure people of color are also weary of the constant barrage of negative race based vitriol filled with the same bitter criticism and malice, day after day.
5
First, both Cesar Chavez and Barbara Jordan were against open borders, because they understood that the law of supply and demand applies to a country's available workforce. Were they racist "nationalists"? Secondly, would you have been happier if Trump had not highlighted any African American or Latino citizens? It seems to me that you and the writer of this column have made up your minds about Trump and nothing he might have said would have changed your views.
99
How can you be for closed borders and pretend to understand supply and demand? It’s like being against trade agreements and claiming its to improve the local economy. It’s exactly wrong.
3
The president is known to lie, a lot. What can he say that will take back all that lying? I rational person would expect that he is lying again, no matter what he is saying.
1
So you think vastly increasing the size of the available labor pool at the same time that companies have moved offshore and automation will eliminate jobs is a good idea??
5
It expressed the views of the speech writer, Steve Miller
30
If legalizing 1.8 million mostly non-white people is a sign of racism, and revising the immigration system so that people in countries located far away, like Malawi, will actually have an equal opportunity to come here compared to those who might simply walk across an unguarded border, I hate to think what it would take to satisfy this author that any human being is not a racist.
108
So the cost of legalizing people who committed no crime and pose no harm is to limit migration, eliminate family migration, and build a wall we don’t need?
Here is my offer: let the dreamers in. Now.
6
Lol! Oh dear me. I dare say you will never see an unemployment figure you like during the Trump administration. I think those people who now have jobs and those who have a "measly" $1,000 bonus are pretty happy about it.
51
The unemployment numbers are fake numbers. Trump said they were all fake numbers manufactured by the government all during his campaign. It is the same fake numbers produced by the same government personnel today as produced them then. Ipso facto, the unemployment numbers are fake. Just ask the President.
7
If you amortize that measly bonus it's just that measly, so don't try and paint it like Trump-o the clown had anything to do with it. Any incoming president feels the economic policies for the first two years, why, because that's how far out budgets go. Other than rolling back regulations that keep the water clean the air breathable, Trump-o hasn't put forward a budget, other than to throw out numbers, with no substance.
3
Just because you lack the foresight to see what's going to happen as a result of the tax cut scam doesn't mean the rest of us are equally as blind. A one time pitance is cold comfort when you considering the ballooning cost of insurance premiums and the gutting of the social security net that will follow
10
If I were Putin bent on revenge against real or perceived slights from the U.S., trying to figure out a way to destroy the U.S. from within, I would recruit white supremacists to do the work of dividing and crippling the country by making it go to war with itself.
9
Good Old DT does not have the American people in mind if he did, he would have brought up how a white guy killed 58 people in Las Vegas, [ and how it should be fixed] or how wage inequity between women ( his favorite hobby) and men is "huge", [ and what to do about it] or how he was investing in ways to stop big Pharma from perscribing opiates that kill every year,; He could care less about education - the less they know the better. This speech was scary, because he wants his cabinet to fire anyone that does not agree with his pint of view I doubt if he could manage all those thoughts. Many of my friends accuse me of " hatred' -- not that for sure, I am just disgusted by this film flam man-
105
Your statement about wage inequity is totally wrong. And what is a “pint” of view?
1
I like your inadvertent pointing out he only has a “pint of view” Small mind to match his small hands.
2
Dr. King was, and is an antidote to trump, though trump's full attack on our country came decades after Dr. King's death.
Full enfranchisement, where our population, and not strictly right wingers register and vote is terribly threatening to trump's GOP.
ACLU People Power is working with other civil rights groups nationwide to welcome back into the electorate those who have suffered under Jim Crow laws.
Your vote is your voice. Use it. Shout it out and pull the white nationalist rug out from under trump and his GOP.
19
And the response; crickets.
Sure: That must be why virtually every hero Trump introduced to the Congress during the SOTU address were people of color -- to affirm white America. Talk about only seeing what you want to see. Progressives are proving world champions in this ability.-Sadly. And I always thought only the Far Right were the conspiratorial non-falsifiable wing nuts.
72
So, you honestly believe that by scrounging up a few innocent tokens to parade around on speech night makes him not racist??
4
BLACK, BROWN OR ITALIAN
Born in 1947 in Mount Vernon New York, a NYC suburb bordering on the Bronx, Yonkers and wealthy Westchester County, Italian Americans like me, though I was fourth generation on both sides of my family, here since the mid-19th century, were considered colored, swarthy, olive skinned and generally thought less of and discriminated against. No accident that Mario Cuomo at that time graduated at the top of Saint John's law school but was turned down by fifty top New York law firms. Americans' stupidity and nastiness never cease to amaze me.
23
Sad isn't it. But not for long, November 2018 is coming.
4
That was then, this is now. Stop using the past to criticize the present.
Roman Catholics are a majority on the Supreme Court. The late Italo-American Antonin Scalia was the right wing's favorite judge. Presumably you've heard of Rudolf Giuliani, Frank Sinatra and La Guardia airport.
7
And yet if President Trump had brought white men with similar stories that would have also been racist.
I really dont think this was some malicious calculated dog whistle. It felt more like his speech writer wanted to bring in some token diversity and prove that people outside of white men still support him. Not some grand plot about latinos and ICE.
21
Token diversity? the biggest supporters of immigration control? black and latino Americans. Huge rise in African American employment. More women employed in Trump's cabinet than any other. Yet writers like this still insist that Trump's policies only benefit corporation fat cheeses and white imperialist men.
4
As a white American, I was thoroughly disgusted by that speech. I can't even imagine what my fellow Americans of color must have been thinking and feeling.
68
The Trump "new American moment" is much more than "the policy of fear" it is the policy of ethnic cleansing that views all brown people (Hispanics) as MS-13 drug-dealing, murderous gangsters who must all be deported, except perhaps for the Dreamers who are being held hostage for a draconian immigration policy (aka "pillar") that eould still deport their parents and siblings. And, it shamelessly used four grieving Hispanic parents to win over the audience to this inhumane bigotry that tars all Hispanic immigrants as "rapists" and "criminals." Similarly exploited, was a small, white boy honored for placing flags on neglected graves to support the President's well-known racism against black Americans such as professional football players who exercise their 1st amendment right to protest police brutality by kneeling during the singing of our national anthem. This is sadly not a "new American moment," but a return to the dark and divisive racist policies of our past. It's pure evil.
14
Racism continues to receive far more attention than it deserves, largely because the words racist and racism continue to enjoy polarizing emotional effect, thereby avoiding the balm of meaningful discussion ... Then again, my forgoing perspective on racism likely adjudicates me a racist without further adieu
23
i agree; misogyny is much more rampant, affects a larger % of the population, and is subjects more people to violence.
1
maybe because you are, but most people who point out racism are usually right.
Yep, it does.
The author's opinion is more of the same leftist propaganda and whining that we have come to expect since Barack Obama ran for national office.
Please keep on pitching your identity politics diatribe, while the economy soars, mostly due to the elimination of anti-business regulations that Democrats have come to love.
Come November, many Americans are going to be shocked (just like November 2016 !) when the Republicans continue to hold the House and Senate.
Yes, President Trump is awful in a lot of ways, but Americans outside New York and California are getting awfully tired about hearing what a victim you are.
The most refreshing part of last night's speech was what we did not hear: that climate change is the biggest risk the world faces, that men going into women's bathrooms is normal, that white people are evil, that Black Lives Matter is the new religion......
we're just tired of it.
55
Maybe you are tired of hearing about climate change because it is happening. Maybe you are tired of hearing of equal rights for transexual people. Maybe you are tired of hearing that black lives matter. But please, do not use the pluralis maiestatis "we", making it sound as if everybody is tired of hearing these righteous things. Shall I remind you that only 37% of Americans approve of President Trump? This is the lowest approval rating during the first year of Presidency ever. So, please, do not use "we" when you refer to the righteous things you are tired of hearing. Use "I".
1
I wonder how they use I and we in a monolithic society?
Wow, tired of hearing that climate change is one of the biggest threats we face? So what you’re saying is, you want to willfully stick your head in the sand and ignore this reality?
If lots of other Americans share your view on this, it does not bode well for civilization.
Whiteness, blackness, redness or brownness does not kill people. People murder other people.
We need the FBI and other police forces to find perpetrators not to look for certain colors. Trump attacks the very people who maintain order, and then expects them to be the color police.
5
You liberals are going nuts. As far as I can tell by the things Trump has actually done, Trump isn't some monster who hates all people besides white men. In fact, while I still think he is a horrible president, I don't think he is any worse than George W Bush.
Every comment on this article will be the same trope. "Trump is a racist fascist xenophobic evil man and we just have to wait for Mueller to finish so we can impeach him."
I truly believe that the only color Trump cares about is green. POC have projected all their problems with society upon him. Well guess what, Trump has been president for 1 year. Liberals are always saying that Trump should never get credit for the state of the economy because that credit goes to Obama. Well, what about the credit for not ending police brutality? What about the credit for the prevalence of institutional racism?
I'm a transgender woman who works in medical marijuana, but I'm done voting for Democrats and I'm no longer a liberal. I just couldn't live with the hypocrisy anymore.
You liberals wax poetic about how diverse your cities are, but when I go to Boston or NYC or LA all I see is segregation. Rich white liberals send their kids to private schools and live in gated communities.
I also love how liberals have effectively given up on the 1,000,000 transgender citizens in this country, while they are willing to shut down the government for 800,000 Dreamers. It's just hypocrisy and craven politics, and I'm done with it.
62
You know what, if Republicans claim that Trump should get all the credit for the roaring economy, so be it. I am fine with it. As long as the same Republicans are ready to give Trump and themselves all the faults when it tanks, and refrain from blaming Democrats, who, by the way, could not possibly be blamed, considering Republicans hold the Presidency and both Houses.
3
Good luck, then with the non-hypocritical GOP...
2
This is a low information voter. Doesn't see AJ Sessions and marijuana. Doesn't know abouut or recognize the attempt to shut transgender people out of the military. Doesn't understand that at least some of the police brutality was a reaction to the African American president. Doesn't understand that what makes Boston or NYC or LA overwhelmingly liberal is the many people many of them in (at least in NYC or LA) not living in the chichi neighborhoods she sees as a tourist. Jacqueline, it's not about the rich white liberals. it is about you and me, the middle. Many of us also want a country that is good for everybody and have been very active politically to make that happen. Although the founders wanted a country not organized around party lines, the document they left us (Electoral College, election supervision left to the states) makes that almost inevitable in the short run.
Now that I have rantedd I need to ask a serioous question. How do we convince the Jacquelines that perfect is the enemy of better, and even of good, enough that she will get out and vote for the imperfect?
Dismay.
1
The fact that this man is president is an embarrassment to our great nation. Shame on Republicans who did not do more to elect an honorable person. Shame on Democrats for not doing more to make sure he was not elected. Donald Trump makes me ashamed to be an American.
23
He wants to cut legal immigration in half.
Unemployment for African Americans has decreased under Trump. And yet, no African American Democrat present at the SOTU bothered to stand and applaud this news. Speaks volumes.
43
Consider the obvious:
1) The right wing of the GOP would have accused Obama of identity politics or unequal treatment meriting impeachment were he to have said such a thing. But his cautionary silence and excessive evenhandedness, created an opening for a cynical opportunist like Trump.
2) Trump could say it because he is a white man patronizing the fears and insecurities of other aggrieved (especially white) groups. This time, he used this trope as a prop to give himself and the GOP feel good points for announcing that they are not racist.
3) The voices who this administration mostly invalidates either are explained away or selectively used as props.
None of this is new in our country, whose citizens have consistently told people of color and minorities to stay in their place: Be seen and not heard; be spoken to and not listened to; follow but not lead; be sidekicks and not heroes; to care for their children while denying the same person the time and space to love her or his own child. This, all the while the bodies and minds are exploited and denied access to meaningful compensation or remedy. Heaven forbid people of color bemoan the injustice of this situation and demand change on their terms.
Last night’s State of the Union made it clear that Trump and the GOP regard minorities as nothing more than junior stakeholders that, they believe, cannot be trusted with self-government. Mercifully this dynamic will change, like it or not.
3
There are two points I would like to make.
(1) First, the unemployment rate for African Americans has overall declined since 2011 - this trend began under Obama, not Trump. Furthermore, the rate of decline in unemployment rates for African Americans has been faster under Obama than under Trump's administration so far.
(2) Second, an unemployment rate that is higher than the national average is nothing to applaud. If the entire country had an overall unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, who would cheer? Who would applaud the fact that a segment of our population is worse off than everyone else?
...Speaks volumes.
4
That was the POINT. The only thing missing were the " Whites Only " signs. That's all they've GOT. Thanks, GOP. NOVEMBER.
9
"White makes right. Make America white again. Take back our country."
Jordan Davies is correct ... except that the Don wasn't even a corporal.
7
Any reason why people obsessed with seeing a while supremest under every nook and cranny has zero condemnation when the Black Congressional Caucus and President Obama openly mingled with Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan? NOI is as hateful and violent as any while hate group currently in operation. The selective outrage reeks of opportunism. Openly associating with Richard Spencer or David Duke has crippling consequences to one's reputation whereas Obama, Congresspersons, Alice Walker, Cornel West, Spike Lee and many more openly promote this hate group without any stigma. Until this changes I will ignore articles like this and the constant witch hunt for racism only when the dynamics go a certain way.
19
no kidding. nothing new!
2
One may see racial undercurrents in Trump's speech enough to write an essay. As should be done. But even white Americans who think, (yes, we exist), couldn't help but note that his speech was so much patriotic fluff and little actual substance. When the President has to applaud himself, not once, but again and again, one can only cite Shakespeare in Macbeth, "...it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." Now that he's not in the control of the teleprompter, Trump will go back to being Trump, who changes opinion faster than a weathervane in a hurricane. So whilst one may read a white nationalist "circle the wagons" as a subtext, that was largely a play to his base, as he offered (with what level of seriousness remains to be seen) a call for paid leave time, bipartisan cooperation (in this environment an oxymoron if there ever was one), better prescription drug costs, and a few other items making him sound almost Presidential. Almost. When all was said and done, we regretted not having popcorn to munch on during the show. For that's truly what it was.
13
I did! I had wine and popcorn. And believe me, I needed both.
3
Trump is an opportunistic value-less authoritarian who has latched on to the alt-right. Most of the Republican senators and representatives have followed suit and align with him on most policies. The Republican party as we knew it is no more.
Time for the rest of us to not just get outraged and upset but put a coherent alternative for the Union. Joe Kennedy III did start in his response to the state of the union but much more needs to be done if this slide to the abyss is to be stopped. It is on the Democrats to seize the opportunity now and show a positive powerful alternative to the racist America we are fast becoming. It is our last chance.
10
And thus it was in the land of the Unted States of Jonestown.
The people were served the KoolAid.
The true believers drank it in full draft.
The poisonous content of Mr. Trump's speech will take its effect long before his True Believers ever realize what's going on. Meanwhile they cheer him on.
Something interesting struck me in the following sentence.
"The contrast between President Trump and President Barack Obama couldn’t be more apparent."
Mr. Trump is probably condemned to be eternally compared to his immediate predecessor, President Obama, with Mr. Trump always coming out deficient in the comparison.
8
Sorry, but there was very little in the speech that was racist. I was disappointed he took a swing at the National Anthem protestors, but cracking down on illegal immigration is not racist. Nor is reforming our decades old immigration policies to better benefit most Americans. In fact (and I'm sure I'll get lots of hate for this) one might even question if the Democrats extreme focus on not reforming immigration which overwhelmingly benefits Hispanics (and the wealthy and their electoral future) is not racist. If the tables were turned and Republicans were defending old immigration rules that allowed an overweight fraction of low-skill white immigrants into the country would you the Times support them or would they be pushing for reforms?
147
Sorry to contradict you but President Obama tried for years to get the Republican controlled Congress to fix immigration and to amend the ACA to improve it. But they absolutely refused to do anything that might make his administration look good, even when it would have benefitted the US. And those DACA registered young people? They are the ones who have worked hard, graduated from high school, often with honors and have or are attending college. Some are at top schools like Harvard and Yale, just as are many foreign students who have come on study Visas. If they get expelled, remember they will then be working to improve another country, which might even be Canada. And we will still have ll those American opioid and meth addicts who have the right color skin and genetics but contribute nothing!
10
"...if the Democrats extreme focus on not reforming immigration..."
There have been serious bi-partisan efforts to fix/reform immigration policies for a long time. Real reform almost passed more than once, but Republicans defeated the bills, even when their own party held the presidency. George W, Bush was wrong about many things, starting with Iraq, but he supported real immigration reform. And I am one of those annoying liberals people in these comments keep saying mean and insulting things about. If I can see merit where it exists, why can't others? It is the way our government used to function. The Trump crowd, with people like Stephen Miller -- plenty of smarts and ideology and no wisdom -- are not what we need to have a functioning government that actually tries to serve all the people, not just the partisan like-minded.
6
Actions speak louder than words.
1
When Trump said something favorable about a white person, it was "support for white Americans". When he saluted a Latino, it was "a wink to Mr. Trump’s base". And immediately after that it was an "egregious case of tokenism".
You don't have to think much of Trump to see that he never had a chance with this commentator. So what's the point?
50
In his state of union of address did make a single reference to white Americans, but he did mention African Americans and Hispanic Americans. As the recent panic in Hawaii indicated, many Americans do regard North Korea's nuclear arsenal with concern. North Korea's invasion of South Korea is among my childhood memories. The author should ask veterans of the Korea War if fear of North Korea is irrational.
13
Thank you for rescuing Mrs. Rodriguez’s voice, she like the others, does not deserve to be Trump’s pawn.
4
Did we watch different SOTU addresses?
-Didn't President Trump have guests in the First Lady's gallery who were representative of the US, i.e. people of various races?
-Didn't President Trump honor people of many races during the SOTU?
-Doesn't President Trump have members in his cabinet of various races, who are representative of the US? And of both genders?
-Will not the policies that President Trump spoke of last night at the SOTU benefit American citizens of all races?
McCarthy allegedly found a communist under every rock, Trump critics find racism and any criticism for that matter also under every rock.
57
This is tantamount to saying "I am not a racist -- some of my best friends are not white!" Good luck with that!
4
The problem is that the non-white and/or non-male cabinet people are by and large not representative or their race and/or sex. They are aberrations. The colloquial term is Uncle Tom.
I felt terrible for the couple who lost their daughter. I couldn’t help but feel that even in their otherworldly pain, Trump (with the help of the sinister Stephen Miller) had played them to make a senseless point that all immigrants are dangerous.
It was a bitterly sad moment - for the real pain the couple is going through - and the shameless way our president used them.
63
As disgusting and Trump's remarks were last night, and every other night he has spoken, they are the sentiments of a dying white supremacy. If Trump doesn't know this, surely his base does. There is no other reason for their irrational hatred of people who don't look like them. It's entirely fear-based.
But it is dying, and retreating to rural pockets that function as "safe spaces" for racism lite. But enlightenment will come to those places too, in time. The extent to which we can accelerate that will mark the true achievement of unity in this country.
2
North Korea fired a missle over Japan and is working as hard as it can to finish it's nuclear program. As soon as it does, I don't foresee Kim Jung Un suddenly releasing the 5th of his population that is in concentration camps, or suddenly opening up his economy or stop selling Scud missles to anyone it can. Do you think NK would have scruples about selling nuclear secrets to non-state actors, especially when they have been training and equipment terrorist movements around the globe for 60 years?
I mean, these people hacked a bank and stole millions of dollars like a mafia job. They are basically a mafia with access to nuclear weapons and 10,000 artillery tubes pointed at Seoul.
They may be participating in the Olympics, but do you believe that they are doing it out of love for the South? No, they are doing it to buy a few months so they can perfect warhead reentry.
To say that the only point of Trumps talking about NK is to rule by fear, is to say that really North Korea isn't a threat and that the only real solution is to accept a mafia regime as a nuclear power equal to the others. I'm not entirely sure that the Kim Jung Un reign will last forever, and I'm not sure it's ok to accept as a nuclear equal a leader that blew his uncle apart with an anti-aircraft cannon. Eventually his regime will collapse and suddenly hundreds (he won't stop at 1, that's for sure) of nuclear tipped missles are in the hands of random colonels and general's whose intentions we can't know.
5
Ms Cauley, you should be commended for doing what is often most difficult: looking beyond what is visible and maybe appears ok on the surface, to the underlying and invisible but bedrock assumptions and issues. Your article is a thorough assessment of what makes and keeps America racist. Thank you!
8
Cauley, did you actually observe the audience last night? It is a representative government, correct?
9
All I can say is the anger and paranoia that Donald Trump must have felt during Obama's messages of hope and praise of our diversity are probably close to what I feel now every time Trump opens his mouth or taps on his phone with his messages of fear and doom. How on earth did we fall this far?
8
“Our unique strengths as a nation — our optimism and work ethic, our spirit of discovery and innovation, our diversity and commitment to the rule of law,” ...
Trump exhibits none of this. But he does meet this standard:
"... the removal of federal employees who 'undermine the public trust or fail the American people...”
7
At a meeting of Atlanta Young Republicans one woman who asked to remain anonymous was reported to have said about Trump's speech, "“It’s what we voted for...Unapologetic.”" That's right. Unapologetic white nationalism meant to instill fear in everyone not of Trump's white America and to credence their self-denied but shameless racism. Trump nurtures their feelings of self-superiority and disdain for everyone who is not white and may yet make it easier for even more Americans to indulge their fears and assert their bigotries. Trump certainly made this bunch perfectly giddy. I wonder how many in their cohort demographic will, in the secretly of the ballot box, rally 'round their whiteness knight. Immune to even the suggestion of their racism, they feel vindicated and tell us they are Christians too. I fear for the future of this country, now more than ever.
43
Thank you, Ms. Cauley. ALL TRUE.
4
The President (I did not say my President) may think he wants to unite white Americans, but his racist rhetoric is uniting pretty much all of the Americans I know, white and non-white, against him.
10
Kashana Cauley's "opinion" piece is Exhibit A of how the Left has lost any sense of reason when it comes to Trump. I'm not a fan of Trump either, but the hysterical cries of white nationalism and fascism don't bear scrutiny.
98
Proof that this Presidency, and this Republican Administration, has turned me into a raving lunatic -- whenever someone says "I'm not a fan of Trump, but", my brain autocorrects to "I'm a Russian bot".
11
Ah, I see that you enjoy twisting the description of "all-American" to have a negative connotation. Last night's speech wasn't about white or black or brown. It wasn't about color. Believe me, Donald Trump gains so much more by uniting this country than dividing it. I didn't even vote for the man and I don't agree with a ton of his actions and policy ideas, but he's not trying to divide this country based on race.
35
As an Asian American, a minority who is sensitive to racism but not an African nor Hispanic American who might have been suffering racism far more severely and longer in time in this country to become far more sensitive to it, it’s very hard to get racial bias in his speech yesterday. Considering that, white Americans might feel far less or negligible racism in it. The argument in this article is not sufficient to attack on him for racism from common sense. I think that countermeasures against Trump should be wiser than this article which seems far more biased than what Trump says recently.
23
This article is infuriating. It really exposes the extreme blindness of the Left.
"The contrast between President Trump and President Barack Obama couldn’t be more apparent."
Indeed!
The Left has to read every thing Trump syas the wrong way to make it divisive.
To Trump, the main thing that should divide people is whether they are law abiding or not, and whether they support the law or not. To the Left the
main thing that should divide people is race.
Trump and his friends invited law abiding people of all races, and people that support the law.
The Left invited law breakers and people (i.e. themselves, members of Congress) that support breaking the law.
That's how one should view people commenting on this State of the Union
address.
Kudos to Trump and his speechwriters.
33
This comment is breathtaking in its naïveté.
The suggestion that POTUS is a law-and-order president is absurd; all one has to do is take a quick glance at the number of POTUS's appointees who have had to resign in disgrace because they broke the law. That number will continue to grow. So yes, that's how I view people commenting on his SOTU address.
And by the way, the Democrats' invited guests are not law-breakers; in fact, the rate of illegal behavior by the Dreamers is far and away below that of native-born Americans of similar age and education.
5
Yes, Trump has converted our politics to one based on fear. As FDR famously said 'all we have to fear is fear itself'. It clouds your vision and turns it myopic. And in the end hurts the person or society who fears more than that which is feared. But the use of fear by a politician such as Trump uses it to cover up what he is doing within the shadow of that fear.
9
Sad, to the extreme degree "weaponized" interpretations and comments while quite a few fundamentally important data (from unemployment rates all the way to already hundreds of billions of American companies money returning home) indicate that the President can make quite good argument that his policies seem to work.
10
I find the tone and the argument in this opinion piece wanting. By making race the issue with Trump, we're missing the bigger danger. All of us in the working and shrinking middle class are at risk of losing benefits like work place safety, environmental health and safety regulations, basic health benefits, rights to organize, rights to dissent, freedom from economic insecurity, S.S. and Medicare, peace, prosperity for all but the top percentage earners, etc., etc. Race is the subject that divides us while Trump's policy makers take apart "the administrative state", just as Bannon promised. They are removing protections every day, while Trump throws gas on our racial fears and doubts. Don't focus on racial issues and let the working class get robbed. Let's not feed the emotionally volatile and complex fights over racial identity, which can distract us from the bottom line - while we stand to lose the shrinking benefits we've all worked for. It's a bait and switch, and I say this as a person who has fought his whole life against discrimination and disenfranchisement. We're getting into an argument over identity while our basic resources are steadily getting syphoned away. It's hard to quiet our equal justice impulses, but first we have to make sure we don't lose the farm, so to speak. We can still stand up for basic equity and inclusion, but let's not alienate our working and middle class, who need to work together and fight for living wages and benefits.
10
For those who were a bit obtuse about it this is what was meant by the 2016 Trump and various Republican campaign slogans to “take our country back” and “make our country great again” all which were a yearning for a return pre-1960s America and the creation of suburbia (ironically much of that was created because of the GI bill) the post-WWII years between 1946 and before Castro took over Cuba or the hippie movement in the 60s when most minorities were treated like second and third class citizens if they were treated like citizens at all, and few Latinos were here.
3
It was as predictable as it was sad that the President cynically exploited Ms. Rodriguez, in spite of her pleas. People have to learn that no one should trust this man.
7
As journalist and historian Ian Kershaw noted, a key feature of ultra-right wing ideas fashionable in Europe in the 1930's, such as fascism or national socialism, was the idea of ethnic solidarity. Instead of binding the country together through ideals, as was the case in the America I grew up in, these ideologies believe "blood and race" was what would bind a country together.
Trump's supporters all espouse variations on this idea. When they talk about how immigration and integration of multiple cultures "damage the fabric" of society, that's what they are talkig about.
9
“is based on arresting gang members. ”
Sounds like a plan. I wish this had been around when I lived in Detroit.
"She added, 'Everyone has the right to the American dream, and that should be there for them.' "
Everyone? Not sure where she picked that up. There's no global right to the American dream.
15
The good news: Donald J. Trump has NOT united white Americans behind his and the Trump-Republican agenda. And while he hasn't united white Americans against that agenda, he has united many, apparently a majority of Americans, against his policies, his propaganda, his personality.
There is hope. Hope that even more Americans will unite to defeat the Trumpian regime. Hope that those opposing that regime will find leadership with integrity (not easy to come by in politics). Hope that the Mueller investigation will seal the Trumpian fate.
Time to ignore the speech and keep the home fires burning.
6
The racial bigotry and orientation toward whites did not begin with the election of Donald Trump.
One does not need to scratch too deeply at GOP/Tea Party members to see the "white superiority" theme that has permeated their party's politics in recent times. In effect, there has been a conscious move to make race-based decisions without any bad consequences, given the low turnout of black & brown voters, exacerbated by cheating through gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics.
The general rationale of the remaining Trump supporters seems to hinge on the thought that, "The government has been taking my tax money and giving it to undeserving non-white loafers and illegal/unskilled immigrants. Trump is fixing this."
Ultimately, the solution is to be found at the ballot boxes, but will those most hurt by Trump go to vote?
6
Last night's SOTU speech could have easily been written by David Duke and Richard Spencer. I doubt that the actual speech writer, Stephen Miller, did not seek their advice and guidance.
6
Thank you for writing an important and insightful analysis of this speech. I have been sickened since the day he was elected and my nausea continues, only worse. Your words and effort help.
2
Hopefully, along with all of the voters motivated by the "Resistance" to vote the bums out in 2018, enough minority voters will be equally passionate about getting out the vote to start turning things around.
3
Trump pointed out that immigrants were the cause of violence in this country, his props were the proof. Gangs, of all races, cause violence. The next question to be asked is why the “carnage” of deaths from guns each year, since Trump is in office over 15,000, never gets mentioned. Then a radicalized immigrant who has been in this country for seven years and kills several people on a bike way in NYC becomes an excuse to deport any immigrant...even though the villain here may be the internet and its ability to spread terror. The real terror in this country is being in public exposed to the increasing likelihood that some random person may be armed and deranged enough to gun down innocent people...11 school shootings in January, no clue...no restrictions on gun ownership for anyone convicted of domestic violence, a history of domestic violence in a consistent marker for almost all mass shooters. Mr. Trump, your thoughts...
7
It is time to divide this country into several separate countries, where differing persuasions can bloom separately, as this amalgamation will never work and it was mistake from the start. and the sooner the better.
20
already had a civil war.
3
With closed minds and closed doors people like you seek to reap all benefits for yourselves. What you will never know is that you are a prisoner in a prison of your own making, forever locked away behind your walls.
1
Great idea. Texas can start and we who stay con move all those military bases to other states which will improve the new locations economies. And anything manufactured in Texas will have tariffs slapped on to be sold in the New US.
1
This was a speech by a racist, alt-right inspired Fascist. The goal of the alt-right and the white voters who voted for him is a white, nationalist state, nothing more. Reminds me of a certain Austrian corporal.
312
@Jordan Davies: Just waiting to count how many comments will accuse the writer of being "a racist" for calling out Trump's racism.
3
What is a "nationalist state"? How can a state exist without being a nation, and therefore "nationalist"? If you are against the very idea of the nation state, and I think you are, why not say so?
4
me...Jordan meant 'white nationalist' state, a.k.a, a nation dominated by white male Christian supremacy and all the misery that goes with the Confederacy's 'good old days'.
Thanks muddying the waters.
7