If the U.S. is a racist country, why did Obama win not once but twice? The U.S. is not a racist country and all these charges of racism are ridiculous -- a lot of baloney!
16
Too many Americans embrace ignorance. They don't think or read facts but 'their minds are already made up'.
Why would anyone vote for a Presidential candidate who did the following: 1.) Owned a fraudulent University that wanted to scam poor people. 2.)Thought it was good business to stiff his contractors. 3.) Made up stories about seeing Muslim-Americans in the thousands cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center. 4.) Got upset when an elderly man bled on the floor of his country club. Trump was concerned about the mess, not the health of the man who fell. 5.) Brags that he doesn't read books. [His gut is much more intelligent than most people's brains.] 6.)Told his supporters to beat up protesters and he would hire attorneys. [What a great guy.] 7.) Refuses to condemn Nazis. 8.) Insults our friends and worships dictators who abuse their power. 9.) Couldn't help Puerto Rico because it was too far away and surrounded by water. 10.) Overcharges the Secret Service for space in the properties he owns. 11.) Separates children from parents. Puts children in cages. Opened concentration camps for immigrants and then didn't provide basic necessities. 12.) Is crude and rude with absurd nicknames for anyone who criticizes him.
America needs to learn the FACTS about Trump. Facts will tell exactly who he is and that is NOT someone who is fit to run our country. Shame on Fox, the personal media which covers up for Trump.
14
@Bruce R: WOW! You’re bright. We have denied our African/American brothers and sisters a decent entry into our society, save for Christianity. I am hoping for an equitable future.
1
Edsalls first sentence is the BIG QUESTION !!!
Another incompetent racism article (does the Times publish anything but, these days?). Per usual, it starts from the far-Left position that uncontrolled immigration, minority preference regimes, "wars' on poverty, LGBTQ demands, and such are self-evident good things and open to no challenge or criticism. Those who do challenge or criticize such unquestionably good things could only do so as expressions of their racism. From there, we arrive at the unsupported and unsupportable denunciations of Trump as a racist (and the same for his supporters). And this pitiful bilge is what passes for insightful political commentary in these diminished days.
15
If you'd actually share one time when he exposed racist tendencies..then sure..I could recommend a way to fight back.
Problem is..the guy's not a racist.
He doesn't discriminate. If you punch at him he'll punch back twice as hard.
You media types keep thinking you're going to outfox him and you keep baiting him only to have him beat you about the head.
Then if your head happens to be black or long haired..you turn around and call him a racist or a sexist.
America knows your gig Tom.
And your gig is up.
15
Yes, fire all the white supremacists and people linked to secret societies who work in the federal government. Far too many of these people have jobs in or linked to Washington. They populated the Joint Special Operations Command under McRaven. They are in the Secret Service, with their prostitution proclivities to boot. They're also in local law enforcement. Anyone who has demonstrated an affinity for white nationalism, fascism or Nazism should be ousted from positions of authority and stop receiving paychecks from the American people.
5
Here are the facts:
"White people constitute the majority of the U.S. population, with a total of about 234,370,202 or 73% of the population as of 2017."
And this fact as well:
"Barack Hussein Obama II is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president of the United States."
Here's another fact:
"Racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior."
Yeah, the FACT is - according to those statistics, that The United States of America , is NOT a "racist" country.
What The United States of America IS, is an "anxious" country.
Those are two diametrically opposed concepts.
You should STOP talking, it's embarrassing.
10
For well over 50 years America has been told that all White people are racist. So Trump's a racist? Quelle surprise...
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
6
Calling Trump supporters racists is as bad as calling liberals unpatriotic-- it doesn't help. When a certain percentage of minorities and women voted for Trump, we can't use name calling (racist, misogynist). If some Marxists support Bernie, it doesn't make me a Marxist if I support Bernie (and it doesn't make Bernie a Marxist either). Painting with a broad brush is offensive and irrational. Let's talk about economics, education, healthcare... not race and gender. Let's follow the Obama example; that's why he was a winner.
9
"Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism?"
Answer:
Vote.
3
How to beat Trump?
It's simple -- vote him out in November!
3
I think Trump see everyone that does not agree with him as being of another "race". He is not primarily dividing people by race, he is simply using racism as one of many tools to divide people in for- or against him. He does not care enough about people to be racist. He don't care about people, period.
This article (perhaps accidentally) hits right at the difficulty of fighting back against Trump's racism. To win votes, politicians "should say 'our opponents point the finger for our hard times at blacks, new immigrants and Muslims' instead of saying 'our opponents are racist against blacks, new immigrants and Muslims.'" That might be true to win votes. However, there are no two ways about it. If you vote for Trump, you are voting for a racist and you yourself are a racist. The inability of politicians to condemn Trump's supporters as racists contributes to these racist ideas persisting. The article even includes a reference to a study that mentions Trump's success with those termed "racially conservative Americans". Um, no. Again, those are just racists. Call a spade a spade.
3
I see more racism and anti-semitism coming from the Dems then Trump. No one wants to talk about Sanders and all the anti-semites working for him. I'll worry about Trump when I hear someone start worrying about Sanders. Remember the Women's March? Lots of racism there. But, yeah, Trump's the problem.
8
"On the negative side of the ledger, according to the report, these middle ground voters “have concerns about ‘reverse racism’ and discrimination against whites;” a sizable majority agree “focusing on race doesn’t fix anything and may even make things worse;” and “persuadable adults believe that people of color who cannot get ahead are mostly responsible for their own condition.”
The moral paradox fueled by cognitive dissonance -confirmation bias and the kunner-during effect is a virus affecting the vast population of americans with low EQ and IQ who are easy prey for a lying demagogue and a bootlicking cowardly -intimidated GOP.
We progressives could easily and equally propagandize them with propaganda strategies designed to steer these sheep back into our fold.
Personally i'd rather despise and treat them with the disdain they deserve AND watch them inexorably devolve into cultural and economic irrelence.
From their ignorance and self inflicted wounds.
1
If you want to know how real racism in America can have global, historical real devastating impact (unlike the made up, political kind), you only need to look to FDR when he was elected President in 1933 at the same time Hitler came to power in Germany. For years leading up to WWII, FDR and his diplomatic staff members were either overtly anti-semitic or completely silent in response to years of overt, violent anti-semitism in Germany, and even encourage the world to attend the 1936 Olympics. In contrast, President Trump has been the biggest defender of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, and for those who actually know the President, he has plenty of Black, Hispanic and Muslim friends and supporters.
1
It is clear to everyone in the world, that Donald Trump and his administration are operating a white supremacist, Christian biased agenda. Trump is being abetted in this race intolerant and religion intolerance by the current leaders of the GOP (McConnell in the Senate, McCarthy in the House) as well as by the white supremacist judges that McConnell and the GOP Senators have recently been packing into the Judicial Branch. How do we fight back? It is almost impossible This Trump racism is rampant!
3
I've been reading the Times since I was in high school during the Vietnam War. Scotty Reston, Tom Wicker, the Great Russell Baker. Granted, it's been a very different newspaper since Sulzberger Sr. left it to Sulzberger Jr., but what is the point of giving a hick like this space in which he does nothing but call Republicans racists. Is he not spewing Hate speech?
If there's one thing that the African American men in this country need it's more higher education, not Mr. Edsall fighting for them by calling good men like Reagan and Bush Sr. racists. For over a decade now black male high school graduates have gone on to enroll in four year colleges at a rate eleven percent less than that of black women. And those who do enroll graduate only 60% of the amount of black women.
This space could have been devoted to a discussion of what steps should be taken in both money and policy to get those boys through college.
If you would like to see some massive hypocrisy that will fly over the heads of all here, a report issued by the UCLA Civil Rights Project last May, marking the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, found that de facto school segregation was actually on the rise and that New York remains the most segregated state for African American students with 65% of African American students in intensely segregated minority schools.
How could this be, in a city that is constantly criticizing every place else for its racial depravity? Talk is cheap.
3
Stop endorsing or participating with anyone or anything which enables or empowers racism. Start financially supporting all efforts to ring about systemic change. Learn, talk, share, act. Do not stay silent. Never stop.
If we really want to stop the president's racism, we all need to up our game. We can model behavior that is not racist and more powerfully we can ask questions. See something say something do something needs to enter academia and have validity in all conversations. The question, asked with honest curiosity, when someone says or does something racist is Where did you learn that? Open the conversation and keep asking questions. questions are the dynamite all cults fear most. You can debate ideas forever. To stop the racism in the White House it needs to not draw crowds, which this current resident needs as much as most of us need air. To stop the crowds find the money streams supporting them by starting at the hubs of the most extremist propaganda creators. Identify, name, label, discredit. Wash rinse and repeat.
Participate, explore, engage and if necessary create inclusive actions across society from religious organizations to the local scouting chapter. Make isolated single feature groups unacceptable, no matter the feature. It can be done.
Good efforts needs to be organized and funded. The racists and nationalists certainly are organized and financially successful.
Words matter. Actions are the only way to bring change.
2
Another compilation of character assassination by of pseudo-social science! Do any of this rogues gallery of academics actually know any Republicans? Not among their colleagues, that is for sure.
The long history of racism belongs to the Democrats, not Republicans. But if Edsall means the last 50-70 years, he's still wrong. The war on drugs was bipartisan. (It was opposed by Milton Friedman & William Buckley). Family breakdown was the signature theme of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D - NY). Nixon was the father of affirmative action and achieved the desegregation of schools in the south. Successive Republican presidents could have ended affirmative action, but didn't do so.
Notice the sneer about "ancillary" issues — crime, welfare, social disorder, family breakdown, homelessness. Edsall implies that these issue were really not sincere, but were pretexts for anti-black racism.
That is a monstrous smear on millions of whites and blacks. The fact is that mixed neighborhoods tended to have more violent crime, inferior schools, drug use and much more. What Edsall calls "racism" was white (and black) families trying to protect their children from harm.
The real political exploitation here is Edsall's portrayal of these understandable fears as proof of whites' relentless "racism." It really is time to drive a stake through the heart of this falsehood.
10
The term racist has lost a lot of its power, in part because of how readily the left uses it to smear people who disagree with them.
One cannot even hold an opinion outside progressive orthodoxy without being called a racist and thereafter have one's opinions ignored and demeaned. This is the reason why, among my own family and in my home town, hardly anybody takes accusations of racism seriously. People jokingly call one another racists for doing anything slightly out of turn, in mockery of the over-reactive way people on the left use it.
That's what "racism" has become outside of progressive bubbles: a joke.
7
I generally assign Edsall's columns to my undergraduates, but can't do it here. This is very important topic for sure, but Edsall just doesn't get it done. He piles one source after another until we lose all hope of a common thread. It's a mess, I'm afraid. Moreover, the writing is so poor and the sourcing so meager that I cannot allow students to think that this would be a good paper. It's just not good.
6
Rational conservatives wake up now! You cannot. I repeat, cannot allow this type of divisive chest pumping rhetoric any light of day. It is not something to play around with. Anything but this. Authoritarianism sneaks up. It's happened over and over throughout history. It won't be obvious until it's too late. You cannot condone Trump at this point or you are complicit.
Look at that crowd that greeted Trump in India and look at the "pogrom" that followed. What a wonderful influence he is.
6
Sure, MLK did it very successfully by *showing* people the injustice in the world, without directly attacking them for their character flaws.
It seems to me a lot of *woke* people these days, while perhaps morally correct, damage their own movement by attacking the people whose minds they want to change, rather than showing them the problem and letting them see the error of their own ways and change their own minds for themsleves.
3
It's Progressives (change for the better) vs Conservatives (status quo beneficiaries) and Regressives (nostalgics longing for the good ole days of ignorance, godstory delusion, prejudice and phobia of all sorts.
Trump is a Regressive. Bloomberg and Buttigieg are conservatives. Sanders is a Progressive.
It seems that no one really cares much about Trump's racism. However, any and all possible incidents of racism of the Democratic Moderate candidates are being unearthed --some from decades ago--so they will be weak opponents and give Trump's more virulent racism another 4 years.
1
Allow Trump/Miller's immigration policies to play out for 15 years. We can always re-calibrate later. But too many Americans have had enough of overcrowding and endless sermons about diversity. It's time to get back to unity.
6
Despite the fervent feelings, the racial disparities are not perpetuated by any systematic efforts by anyone to do so. They are the result of old habits, lack of reflection, policies which have shifted what little creation of new wealth there is to a class of wealthy investors and corporations instead of being shared by all as was previously accomplished until the 1970's, and a failure to confront and rid ourselves of racial preconceptions.
Those who have surplus wealth are the people who have gained new wealth and improved their circumstances. The rest have not improved their circumstances for two generations, now. The racial disparities which existed forty years ago remain, today. Being poor affects people adversely in all the ways which being affluent affects people positively. Add to that the legacy of racial discrimination and the reminders of it and the stereotyping of people which people tend to do, and the results will be continued disparities correlating with race.
Racial profiling or stereotyping by police occurs because of biased sampling by police, remembering some things but not others and drawing inductive conclusions without sound evidence. If this profiling was only by police in one racial group, it would be one thing, but police from all racial groups do it.
1
One, and only one, policy change by Democrats would send Trump packing in a landslide. A declaration of "no more illegal immigrants." Americans do not hate immigrants and care not a whit about their race. Americans hate line-jumpers and law breakers of every stripe. Democrats cannot win the needed number of hearts and minds as the party of smugglers.
The problem of immigrants who are already here can be solved later, but from today, no more illegals. This one change will align the party with the hinterland and bring back the Democrats and swing voters who voted for Trump.
Deep red states across the country, especially rural areas, have embraced Hispanic immigrants as admirable hard-working and reliable neighbors, traits they can no longer count on from their fellow citizens. Countless private efforts to resettle. educate, and house immigrants proceed daily. Churches of all denominations have hired Spanish-speaking ministers and at their own expense either founded Hispanic churches or opened their doors to services in Spanish in their own churches. These red state citizens rail against open borders and failures to enforce the law, while at the same time volunteering at innumerable service organizations for immigrants.
Democrats avowed refusal to enforce immigration laws and mockery of efforts to do so as racist has consequences that go beyond the immigration issue, labeling them scofflaws and unreliable in government in a nation governed by the rule of law.
7
The systematic racism in our laws was removed with the judicial rulings which invalidated segregated public institutions and services followed by statutes enacted in the 1960's. In addition, public policies like Affirmative Action were instituted to compensate for the previous discriminatory policies.
So what was left? There was little effort to reject racist ideas and views held by individuals and groups of individuals. So the result was the perpetuation of racism extra-legally. Children who grew up might be told in school and in public institutions that racial bigotry was unjust and wrong but at home and among people in their communities they absorbed those same racially bigoted ideas and have retained them.
What about racial profiling by police and the disparate and disproportionate involvement with criminal justice shewed by race? Is that not systematic racial discrimination? The numbers describe bias but the causes are not proven by the numbers. So what are the causes? Mostly, speculations.
One explanation that asserts the cause to be systematic racial discrimination are the disparate enforcement of less serious offenses with those in minority neighborhoods with greater police presence than in majority neighborhoods with less police presence. The former neighborhoods suffer from higher rates of serious crimes but the police are sending large numbers of people charged with minor offenses for prosecutions. Is that not because of animosity on account of race?
5
"Moderates and progressives have a lot to lose by ignoring each other on this crucial question."
Some of us non-Sanders people are more progressive than he is, in particular when it comes to socially progressive issues. That said, I don't think the Sanders and non-Sanders people are ignoring each other on this crucial question. The argument, however, is down in the weeds and out of sight. Sanders and some proportion of his supporters are arguing, as they did in 2016, that we should focus on economic progressivism alone, and ignore racism, sexism and the like. By doing so, they believe they can bring over enough racists, sexists, etc. to win in November. They are right about the numbers. In 2016 the number of Sanders voters who voted for Trump were 2 to 6 times larger than Trump's margin of victory in the swing states. As we subsequently learned, that 2016 subset of Sanders voters was motivated almost entirely by racial and gender resentment. Many of us, however, strongly disagree with this strategy. We believe that the party must not ever follow Sanders down into that dark hole where votes are bought with the de facto acceptance of racism and sexism. Pursuing this strategy or even just blithely sitting idly by as he pursues this strategy would be the death of the soul of the party.
4
Attitudes towards race are bottom up, developed locally and appealed to by elected officials who want to benefit from them. Those attitudes are passed down from one generation to the other based upon how it has impacted them, and they are expressed with stereotyping of people not risks of encounters with the biased behaviors of people. So if people are concerned about racism affecting them, they are aware of people who they identify as likely antagonists.
To address racism one needs to consider what is race and why does it seem to matter so much. If one is honest and seeks understanding, the answer is pretty clear, race is not what it is presumed to be but it matters because of what people agree that it means. Race is a false concept, people cannot be reasonably categorized by the attributes of racial identification. But by considering race to be definitive of people, it has supported racism and unjust treatment of people on account of race. It has also resulted in racial stereotyping not just by the oppressing group but by those oppressed, too. It distorts the perceptions of both groups.
There is a lot to unpack here. Two observations:
1. If we just count the votes, Democrats have the upper hand in presidential elections as well as in many state elections. I lived in Wisconsin for 27 years, and Democrats consistently get more votes than Republicans but lose seats because of extreme gerrymandering. Nationally, Dems lose because of the Electoral College whose very design favors Republicans. Is it then true that beyond educating young people to embrace positive values the electoral system must be changed before we can move on?
2. Patriotism is so engrained in US society and brainwashed into children from Kindergarten on (pledge of allegiance, flags everywhere, the anthem even at local sports events, none of which present in most advanced societies) that it is easily used as a wedge issue in political campaigns. The distinction between nationalism and healthy patriotism is lost on most people. If this is true, what do we need to do to move on?
5
I have finally come to the conclusion that you let Trump do what he wants to do, give him everything that he wants and when the Trump base starts getting affected by his policies they will come around to our way of thinking. If they don’t and the majority of the USA still wants him the Country is doomed anyway.
I thank Mr.Edsall for citing scholarly articles and I highly recommend reading “The Trump Effect: an Experimental Investigation of the Emboldening Effect of Racially Inflammatory Elite Communication.” A copy of the article should be sent to every GOP politician. The study cites empirical evidence proving that “Trump is a quintessential example of an entrepreneurial elite using explicit racial rhetoric on the campaign stump to take advantage of latent prejudice among the public.” Trump’s racially inflammatory speech emboldened individuals to express their prejudice and the study also finds that in the absence of censure from the GOP, this mitigates the suppression effect and sends the message the political system sanctions the behavior. Condemnations from the opposing political party have no effect but the opposing party must not remain silent because that sends the message that the norm for racial equality is shifting. Elites are defined as political figures. The “Trump Effect” is the destruction of racial equity norms which limit the expression of prejudice. Trump has normalized and weaponized racial bigotry and the GOP emains silent which sanctions the norm-busting.
What will become of us with four more years of norm- busting and a silent GOP? White nationalism is ascendant, a reaction to the Obama presidency, as is the election of our Bigot-in-Chief.
Read the article by RFK’s daughter. At the age of 18, I had such hope when he was running. Not so much now.
8
“South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.”
- James L. Petigru, South Carolina jurist opposed to state secession and the Confederacy (1860)
In 1866 the South Carolina legislature refused to ratify the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In 1948, Senator Strom Thurmond bolted from the Democratic Party and ran for president under the States' Rights Democratic Party, (a/k/a Dixiecrats), over the issue of segregation. He was for it.
The state has come a long way...
1
Thank you, Mr.Edsall, for citing scholarly articles to bolster your argument that progressives must find a way to condemn Trump’s racism without alienating his base who do not want to be
accused of bigotry, misogyny or xenophobia.
5
I am heartened that Minnesota and the DFL achieved success with the message. The coalition of farmers, laborers, and the Democratic party was formed in the hectic times of the 1920 s and blood was shed.
The party evolved from those times and Hubert H. Humphrey argued for civil rights to be on the national plank in 1948, He was an impressive and spellbinding speaker; he went through 200 hundred years of American history in the 1975 commencement address in Collegeville, MN at St. John's University.
The recognition of the progressive paradox, it is noted by Mayor Peter, seems to be premised on the truth Gary Kasporav noted on Soviet disinformation campaigns - the purpose is to suppress critical thinking.
2
This is one of my complaints with the Sanders movement. In 2016 Sanders was willing to ignore the racism of his supporters, presumably in order to court their votes. For example, in 2016 the 10+ percent of Sanders voters who voted for Trump were motivated almost entirely by racial and gender resentment. (Those studies were reported on in detail by another Edsall piece.) Sanders has, in essence, focused on economic progressivism at the expense of socially progressive concerns. But we know that isn't enough. President Obama's economy has not decreased the salary gap between men and women for doing the same work. It has not increased the average wealth of black households compared to white households. Sanders has parroted the untrue, unfair and racist attacks on Obama and his accomplishments. It is indisputable. Under those circumstances nobody, Sanders included, could have gotten more done than Obama and Pelosi did. Finally, Sanders continues to make claims along these lines that simple are not true. For example, he is still making the baseless claim that immigrants, undocumented and otherwise, decrease wages for citizens.
5
@Robert : illegal aliens absolutely and provably drive down wages and steal jobs from US citizens.
This is indisputable. Ask any UNION meatpacker or UNION carpenter how illegal labor has affected their wages and employment!
7
Racism/bigotry is not a Trump invention in America. It's the people behind the scenes, voting/supporting the systemic practice that's been going on since Plymouth Rock.
If Trump wins this year, a lot it will have to do with white America's continued acceptance in embracing ignorance.
78
Total fantasy piece. Trump is many things but all these charges in just an attempt to smear the man, and the people are not buying it. The liberals have tried everything they can think of to defeat him and they have gotten nowhere. His populism exposes the political class as the enemy of the people they are. The President is an outsider they must destroy at all costs and that he is still in power frustrates them and shows how powerless they truly are. Don't know how they will handle 4 more years, and given what the Dems are putting up, it will be a slam dunk. Hopefully the Times will see fit to post these comments, the last few never made it, after all we can all learn something from opposing points of view.
25
@Richard Jones
You know Richard it gets old.
When nothing goes your way politically
blame - White America.
Why would any group vote to diminish
their political power ?
Hispanic American are the largest minority now
and soon Asian Americans will be a larger minority
than African Americans.
If each of them votes for their perceived interests
will you then blame them ?
22
@Richard Jones
Yes and the solution is to embrace and save the Constitution which makes everyone born here or naturalized an equal citizen under the law.
Attacking Trump's racism is a waste of time.
The point is to attack the racist policies as violations of the Constitution.
The USA is not an identity as the Right would have you believe.
The USA IS the Constitution and We the People who Ratified it and it's Amendments with super-majorities.
The only thing that unites all citizens is the Constitution and the principles it promotes. Those that undermine those principles by corrupting the Constitution are not "reasonable people with whom we disagree," because they reject reason and they reject the framework for debate and decision making (the Constitution) trying to replace it with political violence (terrorism, like Jim Crow and modern mass murders in monitory places of worship).
The Right keeps trying to substitute their identity for the Constitution. If you are not opposing that, they win.
There is no half a Constitution and if we let the Right keep attacking the principle of political equally for all citizens ratified by super-majorities in the Constitution, the United States of America will become the Divided States of Amerikkka.
There is only one way to save the Constitution.
Understand that the Right third of the country opposes it, and make this campaign about saving the Constitution from those who attack it.
Save Our CONSTITUTIONAL Republic.
8
For almost four years, it's been obvious that Trump helped unleash hidden bigotry and hate in this country. His "fine people on both sides" comment legitimized white supremacy and anti-Semitism. According to the ADL, year over year incidents of anti-Semitism doubled from 2018 to 2019.
Lindsey Graham has aided and abetted Trump, so that in my part of the South, old prejudice reared its ugly head as older neighbors say they will "never vote Democrat" no matter how much they are disgusted by Trump. In other words, they are willing to vote against their own best interests rather than vote for the party of Civil Rights.
The Republican message quoted here stokes fear and division while the Democratic message talks about unity. Is it any wonder that we are divided under this president?
6
Let’s see: the ‘persuadables’ want to end racial discrimination and agree that African Americans face greater obstacles than whites, but they also believe that whites are discriminated against and that people of color who cannot get ahead are mostly responsible for their own condition. They don’t sound persuadable; they sound confused. A candidate could tie herself in knots trying to sort out that conundrum.
2
Shenker-Osario comments are wrong about Minnesota. Democrats won five of 8 U.S. House seats (not 5 of 7) and LOST two seats while they were gaining two suburban seats. That's a wash. Democrats did NOT pick up two State Senate seats. The State Senate was not on the ballot in 2018 (unfortunately). He's correct that the DFL won all statewide races. The victory by Keith Ellsion (a black and a Muslim) for state Attorney General was indeed impressive, but if his opponent had been a credible Republican instead of a real right-winger, Ellison would have lost.
6
@john You're absolutely right that I mistyped 5 of 7, not 8! Ugh!! And thanks for the correction. Here's my verbatim quotation to Edsall - the Senate error came in on NYT end: "As far as specific Minnesota races, as an empiricist I want to be cautious about making unprovable statements about how any intervention can be credited - in the tumult that is an election - with being the sole reason behind an outcome, good or ill. We won big in the state -- flipping the Minnesota House, winning five of seven Congressional races, two Senate seats, all of the state executive races and boasting the highest turnout of an election with noteworthy participation nationally. The coalition behind Greater Than Fear did impressive work, I say admittedly without objectivity. And so did the state table, A Better Minnesota, and the candidates themselves."
1
@john
Hey, John - that's kinda rich, assuming the GOP nominee is, in fact, a right-wing nutcase. But you wanna say, that, no matter what - the Republican candidate couldshoulda won? Minnesota only elects persons of color when the GOP presents a wing nut? Huh.
2
"These efforts on the left challenge the long history of Republican success in exploiting race and a host of ancillary issues — crime, welfare, social disorder, family breakdown, homelessness — a history that includes Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, Ronald Reagan in 1980, George H.W. Bush in 1988 and Donald Trump in 2016."
So, all Republican presidents in recent times, except G.W. Bush who was too busy absorbing the shock of 9/11 and then destroying Iraq, have exploited and abeted racism. The question that is at the heart of this article should be aimed squarely at that party. It is not what liberals and moerates should do, it is what Republicans should stop doing.
5
@Partha Neogy Are crime, welfare, social disorder, family breakdown, and homelessness not real and serious problems that need to be solved? But yet they get worse. Had Democratic administrations successfully addressed those problems there would be no need or opportunity for Republican exploitation.
1
In the 1980s I watched liberals cede to conservatives the whole notion of personal responsibility. The idea of personal responsibility became anathema to liberal values, and became a cudgel for conservatives. These researchers are entirely correct in the observation that liberals have also ceded values such as "faith, family, country and law and order." How incredibly ironic, and indicative of God's sense of humor, that the loudest voice in American politics, the one most capable of correctly defining the Christian values that conservatives have weaponized, is a gay man.
There is nothing inherently "racist" or "conservative" in patriotism, self-responsibility, assimilation, or law and order.
That said, however, I also reject the notion that people who voted for trump and continue to love him deserve the benefit of the doubt. They have not been duped, they are not his followers because he "tells it like it is," or because they are better off with him in power. He is a corrupt, self-serving, immoral racist. He represents his followers perfectly.
12
Liberal angst about "racism" is such a fraud!
Here, in L.A., my intern is Indian, my dentist is Chinese and my pharmacist is Vietnamese. I'm typical.
No one notices race anymore.
(Except for the "woke" NYT crowd.)
16
Democrats should find it easy to win on immigration. Yes, easy. Race is another matter because it is so wrapped up in centuries of oppression and ignorance.
Dems made a start on immigration yesterday when they suggested we give med students who come here from abroad a permit to remain in the country if they serve in underserved areas and it was suggested medical school scholarships could be based on the same covenant.
Instead of taking ownership of the street gangs in East LA (Trump insists), maybe Dems should pick out some better examples of immigration success and tie it directly to the welfare of the voter. At the same time, why not give Trump and his billionaire agri business friends ownership of the gangs who are surely children of laborers trucked in illegally thru the 'hoax wall' by agribusiness to work on their factory farms?
2
Large groups of people sometimes have misconceptions about the true nature of a given problem.
This happened in the case of the Vietnam War. Americans believed in communism then. They were afraid that if Vietnam fell to communism, then all of the other countries in Asia would fall to communism, then the countries in Latin America, and communists would be invading the US leading to all out war.
Actually, Ho Chih Minh had no intentions of colluding with communists of other countries. He was a nationalist instead.
So also, this specter of racism may be a figment of the liberal mind.
That is to say. Poor people go to the ER because they can't afford an appointment with an ordinary doctor. Then they wait in line behind people speaking Spanish for what medical care they do receive.
They then put two and two together. They say, "I'm not receiving medical care because illegal immigrants are crashing the system."
That's not racism. That's fear of dying because a doctor won't catch cancer at an early stage, when it can be treated.
So why not say: We will work to stop illegal immigration COMPLETELY going forward, so we can afford to provide medical care to all US citizens.
This would be a partial agreement between liberals and conservatives going forward, and would encourage collaboration to achieve immigration reform.
It would remove some of the fear. Moreover, if we stop calling the "other" racists, we might be able to make progress on common problems.
9
Yes, organize anti-racism squads to spread the word against Trumpian racism door-to-door and via both traditional and digital media. Be sure these squads are carefully balanced with the properly allocated percentages of blacks, women, Latinos, Asians, a broad section of religions, transgenders, even rich white males over 50 can be included, along with income demographics. This can be easily done by making sure all volunteers who are applying fill out questionnaires indicating race, religion, income, age, and gender. If by chance any particular squad is overweighted too much towards any one identity category, transfers can be implemented to squads that may not properly reflect overall demographics as a whole and which may inadvertently overreach their quota on any one particular identity class. You can even include a bonus category of Other in case the volunteer doesn't feel he/she/it/they fit into any of the defined categories. Simple enough.
9
@JW
I doubt that everyone will get the sarcasm.
But you're spot on.
6
@JW
Also include averaging by body weight, looks, and preference for yoga vs. Pilates.
5
Yes,
let's hold a national referendum on immigration reform.
I have been advocating for this for quite some time.
let us agree on a period for national discussion on the subject,
say 6 months and listen to both sides,
then put it to a vote,
every citizen one vote.
how many people do we want to let in?
with what skills?
from which nations?
of what ages?
and then have congress pass it into law.
a law that should be open to revision every 5 years or so
so adjustments can be made to fit our needs.
we are a magnet for immigrants,
immigration has made us a great nation,
but we have to have consensus based on the rule of law.
a national referendum would give us that.
no political leader should be allowed to appropriate
immigration,
it belongs to the nation as a whole,
so let's vote on it,
and then stand by our choices
and learn from them
and make changes as we deem necessary.
oscarvaldes.net
4
This opinion piece is disturbingly accurate and equally discouraging. That shades of messaging can alter perception is obviously true, but obviously horrifying. It may be a fatal flaw for democracy that so many people cannot see through obfuscation, cannot sort out relevancy or truth, simply are cognitively incapable. And in the end our separation is that some care about others and some care only about the self. The gaps seem too great to ever be bridged.
51
@Scott
Plato and Aristotle noted that
in politics it was
Rhetoric, not keen Philosophical Analysis
that sways the Demos.
12
@McGloin
Yes, it is all the fault of "centrists." Certainly not reactionary and obstructionist conservatives, the far right, white nationalists, wannabe fascists, supremacists, Trump supporters, the Tea Party, libertarians, ICE, and the sheer power of billionaires and corporatists to control our livelihood ... no, the destruction of America is all because of Clintonian centrists who believe in climate change and civil rights but also the strategic use of military and economic growth.
I am not a Clintonian centrist, but I know better than to dump the blame for our hurtling toward dystopia on them.
9
@Scott
The reason that Republicans have been getting away with attacking equally for so long is that too many "Centrist" Democrats have been unwilling to rally the USA in defense of our Constitution.
The Declaration of Independence made equality its central argument, but it was left out of the original Constitution, to placate slavers. That might have been the end of it.
But, We the People took the promise of political equality for all seriously.
We ended slavery (at high cost) and ratified Amendments to the Constitution that ended slavery, and made everyone politically equal.
The 14th Amendment made everyone born here or naturalized an EQUAL CITIZEN UNDER THE LAW.
So the racist Right tried to take away the right to vote from black people. Another Amendment was passed to say that black people have an equal right to b vote.
Then we the people realized that women were being treated as chattel, so we made women equal by giving them the vote.
Equally is not just a talking point. Political equality for all people is necessary for UNION, a fact that has been RATIFIED BY SUPER-MAJORITIES, again and again in the USA.
It is the constant corruption of the Constitution by the Right, helped along by "Centrists" that are willing to sacrifice basic Constitutional principles to get billionaire cash, that has weakened the Constitution, leading to Trump.
To save the Constitution from Trump, we must stand up for the most important principle in the Constitution: political EQUALITY.
13
The frustrating thing about reading all the comments on here regarding illegal immigration is that I don't think anyone quite understands how difficult it really is to come here. And don't give me that, "My ancestors came here legally and worked out fine." We all know that the Irish (my ancestry) came in on boats and signed their name in a ledger. THAT was how you became a citizen back then.
We have the means for taking care of our own people and more. We have the means for taking in more immigrants who only want to come here to work hard and contribute to the American dream. Money is not a "finite resource". Taxing billionaires and rewarding the working class would improve the quality of life for us all.
Our biggest enemy is NOT someone coming here with the clothes on their back hoping to get paid under the table for less than minimum wage just to live in an apartment with 10 other people. Some of them even work and pay income taxes/social security, for which they will never reap the benefits because they are here illegally.
186
@Jeffrey - You are wrong. You signed the ledger to get in. Citizenship was a process with forms and fees, tests and interviews that took years. What is remarkable is how little it has changed in 120 years.
19
@Jeffrey
You hit the nail on the head with your closer. I came to the U.S. Decades ago as a skilled immigrant,and Mandingo social security and Medicare for over 16 years,and had I not finally got the Green Card and then become a citizen,would have lost over a half a million dollars in paying into the system,without seeing a dime in return,ever. Several billion dollars are being paid into the system by potential new Americans,and they are in fact subsidizing our society for everyone, not taking from it.And I am talking purely monetary contributions, it doesn't take a genius to see that many immigrants pay a heck of a lot more in to subsidize the rest than they get back, just think of Sergei Brin and Sunday Pichai of Google for starters.
34
@Jeffrey
I also have Irish ancestry and the fact of the matter is that America was a double edged sword for all the poorest overpopulated nations of Europe. We undercut all their agricultural and industrial products with our superior technology while encouraging these nations to hemorrhage their citizens across the Atlantic. This glut of people was not only destabilizing to Europe but also the US. It continues with illegal immigration. The entire system is of course utterly unsustainable and is premised on economic growth. It is going to completely unravel society in Europe before us when several hundred million Africans head to the West in the coming decades. Their population is set to increase by a billion by 2050 thereabouts.
8
First, it's not Trump's racism, it's America's racism. Trump was just politically astute enough to take advantage of it. America was built on a foundation of racism, the fact that Edsall doesn't really confront that is a blind spot on his part.
There are a significant number of white people in this country that believe that America is a white Christian country that should be under the dominion of white Christian men. That is a core tenet of the American conservative movement.
Also, being a moderate or progressive does not mean that you cannot be racist, or when given political or economic power do things that are racists or do things that negatively effect people of color.
If Trump wins the 2020 election it will be in large part due to moderates that either endorse Trump's racism, or they benefit from the economic status quo and simply don't care about Trump being a racist.
How do you resist racism? Make it economically, politically. and socially penal to be a racist. This is already happening and as demographics change in America this will become more prevalent.
151
@Carl
"There are a significant number of white people in this country that believe that America is a white Christian country that should be under the dominion of white Christian men. "
It's not "dominion", it's about majority. Does Japan believe it should be majority Japanese? Does Nigeria believe it should be majority Nigerians? Do Muslim countries insist on being nearly all Muslim? Please point to any ethnic group on earth who welcomes the idea of becoming a minority. Somehow, only white western countries are challenged on this question.
15
@Max Just to remind you, USA is not a Christian country. The Declaration and Constitution are very explicit about this.
Furthermore, given the principle of One Man (sic) One Vote, then Majority equals Dominion. While it is understandable that there may be fear associated with lessening influences and powers, perhaps we can better realize the intentions of the Founding Father - that America be created based on the creeds and ideals in the founding documents and not on historical ethnic kinship or the mirage of race.
14
@Carl
Is it not "racist" of you to attack Whites ?
Why do you, seemingly, assume that there can
be Christians of all ethnic backgrounds ?
Do you think that "People of Color" are incapable
of being Racists ?
The Demographics change you relish is not happening
as fast as you might think, nor will it bring about the
changes you like.
A few years ago I taught to cousins in a course.
Both has hispanic last names, both were blond
and neither spoke Spanish or in any manner
identified as or with Immigrants, in fact both
were quite Conservative.
People of color will never united to shut down
the "White Man", rather they will unite along
various coalitions for the Political Party that
promises to give them a better life, no matter they
be Progressive, Moderate or Conservative.
7
One of the lines I read in comments from Trump supporters is that, compared to recent presidents, Trump has "done so much". Yes, so much golfing, I think to myself. In his campaign, he referred to his healthcare plan, details undisclosed, which would be better, cheaper and simpler. Still waiting for that one. He has the swampiest administration ever, and the sections of his wall that are built can be cut or blown over by high winds. The accomplishments they are oh so obliquely referring to are the crackdown in immigration, the harsh treatment of immigrants at the border and the legitimization of hate and racism. Additionally, he has loosened regulations, which his supporters have linked to prosperity and jobs. Statistics don't support that
331
@Monica C
Very few people, on the right or the left, are interested in facts, data, reasoned argument if it doesn't support their preconceptions.
They think Trump has done so much because FOX tells them its all good.
Most people have very little understanding of economics, history, even fairly recent history. They don't get how close to the abyss we were in 08 and how long it took to dig out from that self-inflicted wound (fiscal stimulus blocked by the GOP).
The lack of basic understanding of biology is going to bite us hard soon.
33
@Monica C
Trump has done much to pack the federal courts with conservative judges rammed through the Senate by Mitch McConnell. Trump is co-opting the Justice Dept. as his personal retribution division.
Some see this as succeeding. My view is it's the number one reason Trump needs to be defeated. Give him another 4 years to stack the judiciary and it could take half a century to undo the damage.
29
@Monica C
I encourage "trump" to play as much golf as possible. His not doing stuff is a good thing.
19
It boils down to this. Racial resentment IS American politics. America was born of racial resentment, built from racial resentment and is still divided by racial resentment.
Framing the resentment along economic lines gives people an excuse to view the resentment as being nonracial. But is just that, an excuse. The core motivation is race, more specifically white privilege. No one want to be called a racist.
The whole package is then wrapped in the flag as a patriotic position. Actually, it is because America has always been about race.
252
@Bruce Rozenblit
I was born in this country 70 years ago. I am white, born and raised in Detroit. My experience in those 70 years is exactly what you say. White Americans demonize people of color, non christians and LGBT people for a number of their problems real or contrived to assign blame. They never acknowledge their own hand in it.
23
@Bruce Rozenblit
unfortunately racial resentment is EU and Indian politics.
When close to 1/2 of the world's population is involved in this don't expect a happy ending.
6
@Bruce Rozenblit
There is a lot of truth to that.
But the bigger truth is that it is a rude, fraudulent and violent minority that keeps pushing racism, and other divisions to make themselves "more equal" than the rest of us.
Super-majorities, however, keep rejecting political inequality
"We hold these truths self evident, that All men are created Equal." That statement started the process that led to the USA. It left out most of the population but it reversed ancient assumptions.
Still, the Constitution did not include the word equality, and instead included slavery. That's not too equal, and the whole thing could have just dissolved into monarchy.
But, We the People took the words in our Founding Documents seriously. We wanted equality. Eventually inequality brought about the civil war, and the end of slavery.
Soon super-majorities ratified the 14th Amendment, which makes everyone born here an EQUAL citizen under the law.
But one Amendment wasn't enough. The Right third of the country tries to make the USA about their money and skin color (and invented identity politics for this reason!) so they continually corrupt our Government to corrupt the Constitution.
We the People had to pass amendments with super-majorities to make it clear that race cannot be a barrier to voting, that money can't be a barrier to voting, that women should have the vote, and other reaffirmations of equality.
SUPER-MAJORITIES keep ratifying amendments to create EQUALITY.
1
Speaking as a person on the other side of the racial divide, it's easier to see what the real problem boils down to -- and in a word, it's denial.
This country has always had a problem with accepting its own dark past when it comes to racism, even though its very foundations are built upon it, and that's also why it's not surprising that it should elect a unrepentant racist like Donald Trump as president then wonder what went wrong.
And while the G.O.P. with its bedrock "Southern Strategy" and resistance to diversity is part of the problem, Democrats, progressives and liberals who secretly harbor not-in-my-backyard sentiments when it comes to integration are no better -- something they're now being forced to realize as they chase after their votes.
Add to this the fact that most Americans who aren't of color have no real clue of this nation's history or what it's like to be historically maligned and socioeconomically disenfranchised, and it's understandable why it's easier to ignore, or worse, deny the fact that there is something wrong with the picture.
That's why there's a Donald Trump, and why America will never be truly great again.
121
@N. Smith
This country has passed monumental legislation, court cases, and policies to reverse the damage of its dark past. At this point any school or job applicant will happily check the minority box, expecting a racial preference.
16
@Max
Unfortunately, what you're saying is just part of the myth folks like to point out without realizing there's a difference between laws being passed, and then actually being enacted.
That's why there continues to be so many discrepancies in housing, education and job opportunities, and it doesn't help matters that this president and his administration have less than favorable views about people of color.
And there's more to the situation than just checking "the minority box".
24
@N. Smith - well, America is great and that is why people try to come here by any means possible. The US is a very generous country as are its citizens. But most of them are not stupid about unlimited immigration!
12
Trump and many of his followers are true racists but the Democrats seem to be missing a key point that there is also a resentment from non-racist Americans to people from other countries taking American jobs. Over the past 30 years I've seen an influx of technical people in the engineering and software fields from India and other countries. They get their bachelor degrees from some unknown college in India or where ever and then a Masters from known colleges and universities in the US and then enter the US job market many with only student visas. They are willing to work for less then the US technical people and are taking many of these jobs.
US companies have also been outsourcing clerical jobs in addition to manufacturing jobs to foreign countries to people that don't even live in the US.
Trump has effectively tapped into this resentment. In addition the typical theme running through most Republican circles is that they don't want to give their hard earned money to immigrants that illegally cross the border.,
The Democrats have not effectively addressed either issue leaving it up to Trump and the far right media to spin their own stories.
If the Democrats want to win the WH and take over the Senate they must address these issues and come up with plans that make it economically feasible for companies to want to higher US workers first before foreigners or outsourcing.
84
@VMG
It's not people from other countries taking American jobs. They're not the ones shoving Americans out of the way.
Rather, the problem lies mostly with corporate America. They'll post technical and engineering jobs at salaries no American could afford to take. Without the American response, corporate is free to post the job for anyone and the foreigner with the H1-B visa sees the American salary as far more than he'll ever get in his homeland, even though he's being underpaid here, and takes the job.
The problem lies in our own country. We're rotting from the inside.
20
VMG, as a white male and retired civil engineer that entered the job market in 1980, I think I saw the phenomenon you describe. However, I think the stereotype is wrong. The reality for me was quite different. My South Asian colleagues were hardworking and competent. I hired some for my firm when they were the most qualified candidate. Some became my boss. I found it a pleasure to work with them. They helped raise the standards of practice, in my opinion, and have contributed greatly to our economy and society. That’s my stereotype, based on personal experience. No resentment here.
21
@Bubba Brown - it's fine that you had a good experience, but that it looks like that was a while ago. Since then there's been a huge influx of just-average workers in our gig economy, and it's not always a pleasure working with them. It takes all of our effort to not become resentful, or worse. It gets very difficult and stressful when you're forced to compete with them, or tolerate their just-average work which has an affect on your work making it just-average or less. And then you're out on the streets forced to scramble for another gig.
6
Does it matter? Trump, sad to say, clearly reflect his voters. Too many of our fellow Americans seem to be consumed by hate, envy and greed. They hate change, they envy those doing better than they are and hate them for it and there's a element of greed - the core of the "Prosperity Gospel" is greed not Christ. We're not going to fix this anytime soon, if we ever can.
4
Sounds like we're doomed.
Thanks for the warning. This one was tough to read.
1
Yes, we understand that calling out racism and cutting its head off is only like a hydra whose decimated appendage is reformed with renewed vigor.
We like to say now that groups of people exhibit poor social habilitation not because of their race but due to their culture and their individual poor choices.
Trump has the highest republican support of any other republican president in modern history, for the economy that he inherited?
His main job is being POTUS the entire U.S. but he has blatantly only catered to his minority base.
Yes, we are indeed in trouble and that point was galvanized with Trump's election. And if Shaw was right about us getting the government that we deserve than we must do better as a people or instead of being great again we may go the way of every other empire that has ever existed on this globe.
4
I find that publishing the truth is hard. To not publish the truth as the facts and witnesses thereof is a crime itself. So, do we talk about the distractions, or do listen to others who wish to share the sad truth? Racism is a plague sought by Nationalists, dictators, and yes the current president.
The old Nationalist propaganda festers itself like a boil that never healed. So, do we reelect a racist nationalist or do we not? That is the real truth to the question at hand.
The title of this issue is as long and as tired as time itself. Racism is an act of ignorance, and ignorance is what starts wars internally and externally. Racism sought as a way to propagandize an ideology is the most dangerous path to national stability. The easiest way to undermine a democracy is the play the race card tied to nationalism, this is the path white nationalists/supremist take. Make no mistake Trumps supports this premise in all he does. Understanding this is convince setting Congressional members of this premise. Second is to convince the public. The third is the legal path. Fourth, is the least savory war.
While the title points to "Trump's Racism", the article itself correctly points out the Republican Party has been pandering in one form or another to racism since Goldwater, Nixon, and Regan, on up to and through the Bush's, all of it euphemistically referred to as the "Southern Strategy".
Perhaps what distinguishes Trump's brand of racism is that he has brought bigotry and hate out of the closet in a manner that is openly racist. Republican's no longer go through the elaborate pretense to hide their racism in code words and contrived policy language but can now be openly racist and openly embrace hate groups of one kind or another.
However, in doing so, Trump has also pulled back the utter hypocrisy that has long engulfed the current era Republican Party and its followers You can not on one hand wrap yourself in the American Flag of patriotism, freedom, the constitution, the Party of Lincoln, religious freedom, limited government and every other ideal upon which they stand while actively seeking to deny those same rights to others.
The Achilles heel of Trump's racism are facts and truth, which is why the right wing goes to such lengths to undermine legitimate news, rational thought, and real education. Sure, there is a high degree of willful ignorance that must be overcome, but piercing their wall of hate begins by tearing down their wall of ignorance.
4
No, the Democrats do not and nor do ‘well-meaning’ Republicans. Trump, it is demonstrable, has ‘unleashed’ race hatreds in the U.S. but only ‘unleashed’ & did not create them. Hatred & fear of all non-white, non-Protestant, non-males was enshrined in your foundation documents by your founding ‘fathers’ as these fears & hatred were prevalent amongst them. While various legal ‘work-arounds’ have been enacted over the course of U.S. history there is no ‘work-around’ for the underlying fear & hatreds that still prevail amongst many Americans.
2
"America’s strength comes from our ability to work together — to knit together a landscape of people from different places and of different races into one nation. For this to be a place of freedom for all, we cannot let the greedy few and the politicians they pay for turn what you look like, where you come from or how much money you have into reasons some of us matter and others don’t. It’s time to stand up for each other and come together. It is time for us to pick leaders who reflect the very best of every kind of American. Together, we can make this a place where freedom is for everyone, no exceptions."
This sounds a lot like Bernie's message.
2
Does anyone have a clue? Apparently not.
The article is ok except for the first sentence. Trump didn’t unleash bigotry, it has always been there in the Democratic Party until the late sixties then in the GOP. In recent years SCOTUS has also been on their side. Look at very recent decisions approving what Trump has wanted to do. So we have the Executive, the Court and one house of Congress that is “racist”. The only outliers are the Times and the Democrats.
1
I can see why people of color are resistant. It feels a lot like pampering and tailoring your message to a lot of white people whose beliefs are racist but can't or won't see it that way. Is it better to cater to those feelings to get the outcome you want; or try to say it's just wrong?
This idea that poor POC are poor because of their own choices is something a lot of people think but don't realize is a racist belief; it ignores centuries of de jure and de facto discrimination, segregation, and oppression that have contributed to that poverty. How do you get people to see it and change their views if you gloss over it with other messages?
This can be practical, perhaps, but I can see why it feels like one more way POC are supposed to bite their tongues to help white folks feel comfortable.
4
The way forward is building cross-racial solidarity along the lines of class. The vast majority of Americans are working class, and almost half of them are people of color. Stressing issues of economic equality and expansion of services to help undo 40 years of neoliberal austerity for all working people and massive concentration of wealth at the apex of the social pecking order has the benefit of being not only a winning strategy but also of being the only principled one. Not surprisingly, this is the strategy the Bernie is pursuing. An upsurge in union organizing among workers of all colors is underway, and should this upsurge continue and grow in power it will help put wind in the sails of any political organization making this kind of argument by demonstrating that when workers come together regardless of background they can increase their collective leverage and achieve the kind of changes that can help improve their material lives. Democracy may indeed be in the streets, but at some point it needs to achieve state power to overcome plutocratic control of the mechanisms that allow it to flourish. Only the active class solidarity of working people can assure this outcome.
3
I agree that "the relentless power of racial resentment" has been present throughout U.S. history, and that it still is. And I agree with many that the press, along with the rest of us, should call out racism when and where we see it.
But we must remember that people are no more "racist" than they are "illegal." *Actions* can be racist or illegal. *Policies* can be racist or illegal. Even *speech* can be racist or illegal. But not human beings. Human beings are irreducible to single words or actions.The more we acknowledge that in political framing and in everyday speech, the better we will be at lessening rancor and bridging divides.
2
We should think in terms of real world goals, designing the society we want and charting a path to make it practical, rather than thinking in terms of abstractions like "justice" and "rights." When you use those double edged swords you end up arguing without connection to any real footing other than your own feelings and experiences, which others may not share. But we all share the real world and the results in it. That's what these changes of tack are tapping into. Ideals considered in isolation (everybody should get a million dollars for free right now, how can you be against that?) will always trump reality, which considers all factors. When you insist on talking about what CAN be done rather than what "should" be done you don't allow that false comparison to happen. And that's why pointing to social democracies works. You can't say it can't be done.
1
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/19/694804917/democrats-used-to-talk-about-criminal-immigrants-so-what-changed-the-party
Twenty years ago, both parties were identical on immigration.
4
The social justice warriors need to get off their soapboxes and start working with people they may not always agree with, and who may not always agree with them, and who may at times not be as 'pure' as they would like. That's politics, boys and girls. "If you don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen."
This has nothing to do with making the SJWs 'wait' on getting their preferred policies passed. This has everything to do with getting enough people on their side so that they can start to effect the changes they want to see. Time to start growing up, people.
6
I can tell you that my own personal animosity at being called a xenophobic racist simply because I don't want every criminal who can swim the Rio Grande illegally to be annointed a citizen is so deep that I am now unreachable with any kind of Democrat message. Just keep up the name calling members of the squad etc. etc. until you've alienated every last independent voter.
16
In response to the question you pose in your article's headline: Yes. Clearly refer to and identify Trump as a racist, for, irrefutably, based on his statements and actions, he is one. But the New York Times is terrified -- why? -- of calling this lawless, reckless fascist what he is: an unabashed racist, white supremacist and fascist. It also routinely refuses to acknowledge Trump's lies and the fact that he is a serial liar. Instead, the NYT uses such euphemisms as "misstatements." In fact, Trump is the leader of a textbook-fascist regime, not the lawful administration of a democratic government. The greatest power lies in the hands of you in the media. Start stating the TRUTH for a change, instead of cowering in the face of the democracy-crushing, democracy-hating terrorists who now control the U.S. government. You have legitimized and empowered Trump and Trumpism ever since the presidential campaign of 2016. You have a lot to atone for now.
3
Part of the problem is a significant portion of the left’s thought leaders have spent the last few years calling anything and everything “racist” and/or “white supremacist.” Those terms have lost all meaning in our discourse.
Interestingly, it seems we are seeing the same thing with “socialist” as a term. The right spent years calling anything and everything socialist that the term lost all meaning. Now, an actual socialist is about to win the dem nomination, and my guess is the usual “socialist” slur won’t pack the same punch for the same reason middle American white people now tune out cries of “white supremacy”.
7
Lecturing to people about how evil they are and then expecting them to vote for you is the height of folly.
16
Trump didn't win because of racism or white animosity. He won because he spoke to people in a language they could understand, he put himself in their place and promised to bring America back to a simpler time. If you see racism in that, you're just projecting. Which is what the Democrats constantly do. In fact, it's pretty clear that Trump and the Republicans have no interest in people's races, while the Democrats are positively obsessed with it. That's why the Race-Class project was a progressive effort. That's why progressive politicians go to great lengths to fixate on race, dividing people in the process.
The Republicans make sensible, non-racialized points like: "Taking a second look at people coming from terrorist countries who wish us harm or at people from places overrun with drugs and criminal gangs is just common sense. And so is curbing illegal immigration, so our communities are no longer flooded with people who refuse to follow our laws."
Meanwhile, on the Left, "the students most committed to racial justice were wary of any alliance with working and middle class whites.... people focused first and foremost on justice for communities of color who see the problems besetting these communities primarily through the lens of a racial analysis." And there is infighting on the Left due to "frustration with the liberal whites who wield most of the power."
So in actuality it's the Left that's obsessed with race and judging people by their skin color.
13
I actually do have an answer for this: You have to go after the Southern Baptist Convention. Please do some research into this and understand that Trump’s racism is aided and abetted by the largest evangelical denomination in America.
Why does the map of the Southern Baptist Convention’s reach look exactly the same as the map of the old Confederacy? Why are these churches still racially segregated? Why can’t women have leadership roles in these churches? And why do they all love Trump?
Southern Baptist churches are not about Jesus. They are about keeping the old social order of the South in tact under the false notion that they are about Jesus. I grew up in one. They are not about Jesus. And their hypocrisy has been exposed under Trump. You have to “go there” okay? Breaking this denomination’s hold in the South is the only way that this line of thinking dies. The younger generations are already fleeing from Southern Baptist churches, but the problem is that we are not in charge of state politics yet. It’s still being run by these good ol boys. Look at Alabama. We have a joke that Southern Baptist is the de facto state religion. Only it’s not a joke. It’s the truth. Most of the legislature is made up of Southern Baptists. So are town governments, school systems, etc. Certainly has a lot to do with why we rank last in so many important categories, number one being education.
So... We need to discredit the hypocritical religious barrier that condones Trump’s racism.
8
@Corrie You are absolutely right. In my town, you practically have to belong to that one Southern Baptist church to be elected to city council, school board, etc. And 3/4 of the polling places are Baptist churches. And the members of that church reliably turn out for every Roy Moore primary election too.
Yes, the young people are leaving the Southern Baptist Church in droves, many of them turned off from religion completely by the racism, sexism, and homophobia. Many of them are going to “prosperity gospel” mega churches. Those are more racially integrated and less bigoted, but still theologically uninformed. Meanwhile, the mainline Protestant churches are fading out as their congregations age—and as what would have been the educated Christian Left becomes more secular.
Readers, if you see a value in institutions, consider supporting the “peace and social justice” community and religious organizations near you. If all people see is the Southern Baptist style of Christianity, they really get the wrong idea about people of faith.
7
Conflating racism with any reasonable discussion on immigration is a surefire way to alienate moderates. Similarly, crying “racism” at anyone who isn't in ideological lock step with you on the issue is foolish as well.
And some NYT columnists sure have a hard time understanding that truth.
10
There is a lot more racism in the Democratic party than in Trump. A leading candidate just promised to choose a Supreme Court justice on the basis of race. Nothing is more racist than that.
Trump is a chauvinist, not a racist. He hates Mexicans, but Mexicans aren't a race. They are a nationality. Most of them are of European descent, with some admixture of Amerindian.
7
Here we go again. We should all be amazed that "illegal aliens" became "illegal immigrants" became "unauthorized immigrants" or "undocumented immigrants" until they emerged fully laundered by the press as "immigrants", the foundation of the American experience. In the process, apologists for illegal "immigrants" have cast those who want our immigration laws enforced as "racists" and "nativists" and "bigots".
Here's a challenge: find any category of illegal "immigrant" that I won't deport and you can call me a "racist". The fact that a large proportion of illegal "immigrants" are people of color is their doing.
10
No need to sway racists. They've always been here. Fascists have always used it as a wedge issue to rile up the divides so they could get elected with slim margins. The whole illegal immigration issue is a republican made up canard just like abortion. The majority voted for Trump for financial reasons, but he did get the minority of his base by riling them up with these two canards. And he needs those rubes to get the slight electoral majority he needs. There just aren't enough of them. He is going to lose badly this next election.
2
@kay
Are you kidding me? What effect on the electorate would legalizing say 10-20 million illegal immigrants have? We would never lose another election. Trump used it as a wedge issue for that reason.
2
"Racism" is the twaddle of liberals.
Institutional racism has been dead for a generation in America.
The charge of "racism" is now just a liberal smear, applied promiscuously to any program or person that liberals dislike.
Otherwise, it means nothing -- which is why so many people today dismiss it.
12
Democracy is supposed to make politicians take the concerns of all of the people into account.
3
Underneath all the variations of color and stature, we all have the same 5 senses inputting to the same set of emotions we all share, to varying degrees, influenced by our experiences of living.
1
Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism?
Nope. I can think of plenty of options, but nothing legal.
1
Headline; "Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism?" First sentence of the article "Can Democrats diminish the bigotry that Donald Trump has unleashed in this country?"
These are two separate topics.
The answer to the headline is to simply point it out when he says something racist and leave it at that. Truth can stand up for itself.
To go further when you are only addressing the words spoken not "Trump's Racism" or what you imagine may be in his mind, is to change the focus from the racist remark, to the person challenging it. When you do that the racist remark passes unchallenged regardless.
If Trump's racist remarks lead your mind to be uncontrollably focused on the tangent the first sentence of the article starts with, then you already lost. They are two different things and if you cannot differentiate that, you won't be able to handle the exchanges. The second thing is a concept that doesn't translate to reality as it does not sufficiently define what it proposes. The comfort with which bigots express that bigotry today is bad, but no where near what it was even in the 80's.
The answer to dealing with a racist rabble rouser is to always state the truth, and let it stand up for itself.
If you are engaged in trying to change people's minds, that involves education. To get folks to let you educate them in an election campaign you have to win them over to find you interesting enough to listen to. Ask a teacher.
Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism? Yes, I do. And so do the readers here. Vote him out of office.
4
I guess I should take it as a positive that the Democrats are starting to realize that calling everyone who disagrees with you "racist" is not a winning strategy. Still I'll be a lot happier when y'all start to acknowledge that class dives us far more than race. i.e. Poor whites face far more obstacles than middle class blacks, and more importantly that poor blacks face pretty much the same obstacles to getting out of poverty as poor whites. The biggest of which are single parent families, poor schools lacking in discipline or structure, and depressed wages due to the abundance of illegal immigrants working for below market wages.
It would also be nice if your definition of racism was limited to: The belief that someone's race is any more important than their hair color. Because right now it comes off as: Anyone opposed to current left wing orthodoxy. But I won't hold my breath on that one.
11
If Affirmative Actions for College Admissions had just been
based on Socio-Economic backgrounds, the mix of
Freshman would have been far more interesting.
If the New York Times would stop referring to people by the
Tinctures of their skin - White/Black - sometimes they say
Brown, but never Yellow, and instead say, if they must,
European, African, Latin American and Asian American
(Though what someone from Iraq has inherently in common
with some from Japan such that they both be labeled Asian -
talk about accepting a Western Perspective as Fact. )
It would be a better world.
I know it is difficult for people who grow up in New York City,
San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. to understand
but there are, numerically speaking, more Poor European
Americans than any group of Poor Minorities.
They feel completely ignored by the Democratic Party,
whether it is the case or not, that is how they feel,
and most of us, though we may think we are Rational,
do likewise.
America is the least racist country that exists,
it is striving to undo the sins of the past, be supportive
instead of playing the "blame game" for political power.
12
There is no need to fight back since Trump is not racist, nor is his administration acting that way.
This is not crucial question at all, since racism is not a problem in this country, except when shamelessly used by the liberals for political goals.
FYI, this country voted in a half-black president. Twice.
8
@ss I voted for Obama -- he united people not divided them into groups based on ethnicity or skin color. I am certainly not a racist. I have a B.A. in Spanish and an M.A. in TESOL. I taught in high schools in Brooklyn and also taught English to adults for years (Adult Ed. -- NYC). Most of my students were Latin American and they were lovely and so motivated! I've traveled all over Mexico (ten times) and lived with a family there. I also lived with a family in Guatemala. I am certainly not a racist. But I worry about human overpopulation and the environment. I love animals and hate traffic/overdevelopment. Most of the overpopulation in the U.S. in the last 30-40 years is due to immigration (legal/illegal). To be against immigration is to be pro-environment. Too many humans is just unsustainable. By the way, all the Polish I taught in Greenpoint, Brooklyn were lovely too.
4
It's not "Trump's racism" and it's unproductive to call it so. The United States is a racist country to the marrow of its bones. Even when people learn to work together, to stifle the comments, the pejoratives, the trigger words, they largely stick to their own tribe, socially. Trump has given those on the margins, those who have long resented having to bite their tongues, permission to loosen their teeth. But to the extent we pretend that, "Oh, that guy over there is a racist, but I'm not," we delude ourselves and fail honestly to confront the reality that races do not -- and may never -- mix with complete lack of undercurrents of hostility.
1
Trump has freed racists and white supremacists, allowing them to come out into the sunlight.
The Anti-Defamation League has a map detailing extremist & anti-Semitic incidents around the nation. From 2008 to 2014, under Obama, there were 331 reported incidents nationwide. From 2015, when Trump entered the campaign, to 1/31/20, there were 12,128 reported crimes.
If you look only at White Supremacist Events and White Supremacist Propaganda , there were 0 incidents during the Obama years. For the Trump years, 4,984 incidents so far.
And that's just the reported crimes.
A MAGA hat has replaced the Confederate flag. Proudly worn by Trump's majority white base with a few token minorities thrown in.
Trump, aided by Mitch McConnell, is intent on elevating the White male, preferably rich and Christian, over the rest of the populace. Like it used to be, before 1861.
Trump has been prosecuted as a business man for not renting to minorities. His racism is well documented.
McConnell doesn't mind anything that harms minorities.
The Senate won't interfere, Trump can do as he pleases.
Fox News has convinced Republicans that the misery in their life is the fault of non-whites, and that when Trump slashes social services and government aid, they won't be impacted.
These people are fools.
Vote a Democratic ticket this year.
Every office, every seat.
In November, we need to hold the House and flip the Senate. It's even more important than defeating Trump.
Turnout needs to be huge.
Vote.
6
"Stung by the success of Trump’s anti-immigrant, racist campaign themes in 2016"
As a LEGAL immigrant (and now a citizen) I resent the fact that the NYT and Democrats generally continually conflate those of us who came legally and those who have evaded immigration law. That you have sympathy for them I understand but still, we legal immigrants are entitled to our own word which is, ahem, immigrant. If you do not want to call the others "illegal" immigrants then call them visitors but do not use the word for them which we have EARNED through much effort.
Trump has just returned from India and he earlier participated in the Howdy Modi event in Texas. He is (too much of) buddy buddy with Salman of Saudi Arabia. So when you call him racist I ask myself, "Are Democrats capable of looking at reality and doing some thinking?"
It seems like anything negative about Trump is just fine with you and it does not have to be true. But your habit of lying and misusing language muddles the political landscape.
You can justly accuse Trump of some bad things, like his neglect of the environment. But please do not add lies to your accusations.
13
Education.
Racism flourishes in ignorance, and the antidote to ignorance is education. Unfortunately, the GOP has a firm, anti-education policy.
4
Liberals love to claim that other people are racist. The trouble is, it's like the boy who cried wolf. They've called people racist so many times who are not (including President Trump), that if we ever have a real racist vying for power, everyone is going to just roll their eyes, ignore it and say "there they go again" when someone does call them racist.
12
The people who support Trump unequivocally are the people who have always accepted his racism. Those who believe in white supremacy and "white victimization."
You won't get through to them.
The Democrats have to continue to push ideas that benefit everyone, like a national health care system. Then they can reach the people who are undecided.
2
What's to fight? Anyone who thinks Trump is a bigot should watch the democratic debates. They are ALL bigoted in one way or another, mostly against each other. That is why Trump is locked in.
2
Playing the Race Card originated in "modern" politics with Johnny Cochran at OJ Simpson's ridiculous LA LA LAND trial of almost 30 years ago -- it muddied the argument, defamed the prosecution, gave Seinfeld ammo for satire, and got a premeditated, though adorably famous, killer off, and was/is still a miscarriage of justice on an international scale. Yes, read it and weep -- million dollar lawyers' ego-tripping victories.
Throwing "RACISM" in the face of common sense over unrestricted illegal immigration will never solve the enormous problems facing disadvantaged families of ALL skin color -- but "progressives" continue to so so when confronted with a mental vapor lock during this Century 21 descent to this bottomless vortex on the future of Race Relations in America.
They can't see the victim for the vacuum -- this "black hole' of continual accusation. Get REAL, pundits and scriveners. I can still hear Johnny Cochran's emphatic soto-voce, "Yesss," and I suppose I'm branded racist now for mentioning this.
Constantly claiming one's own moral high-ground on complex and intangible issues solves no problems. Even mine, I suppose, but more thoughtful introspection might be a benefit on all sides.
6
It's not up to the stupid political parties to fix this problem it's more of the media's resistance to really report the news opposed to the trivia they usually report on. Note: the instant Trump got elected crimes by cops stop being reported as their own crime rate skyrocketed. The media loves loves to only show the poor being arrested and but in orange jumpsuits but when one of their own rich white brother's get arrested they never have to wear the Orange, their houses aren't raided and destroyed and are treated far better overall. That's the media's ongoing racism.
1
The racism exists almost entirely in the imagination of the Democrats. He has just visited Modi who, whatever his faults, is not white. He is too kind to Saudi Arabia, also not a white country.
Trump's big failing is his failure to respond to climate change. Also he is too tolerant of the rich-poor divide.
Stay on issues which matter and where his poor performance is proved. Don't throw in other issues.
4
@Ludwig: Modi is an authoritarian, Hindu ultra-nationalist who is trying to disenfranchise all the Muslims in India. He has similar motivations as Trump, and you could call both racists. But I agree with the rest of your comment.
2
Trump's Racism? You should say America's Racism. Trump's one vote for himself didn't win the office. Trump is only a symptom of the problem.
3
Hope DNC officials read and heed these insights. There is a spike in bullying in schools now, with kids parroting Trump almost verbatim castigating fellow students. Link below:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/local/school-bullying-trump-words/
1
Incessantly crying wolf is a clear strategy for failure. The Democratic race card is so dogeared it has become useless. Also recall when you accuse Trump of racism, you accuse his supporters of the same. So, you say? And you're trying to convert folks to the Democratic side of the aisle? No wonder the Democratic party is in disarray. Remember, when every action is cited as racist, the message is quickly disregarded and lost. Right now, the racism message is lost in the signal noise.
8
When the neocon GOPs completely trash the social safety nets, as tenuous as they are in the US, and Mad Max makes his appearance, at that point perhaps Trump supporters will at least say: "Huh?"
When the white Iowa heartland has been sending Republican Steve King back to Congress since 2002, despite years of unapologetically making the most inflammatory, racist declarations and with almost zero condemnation from the GOP, something is very wrong in America.
2
Most Americans aren’t Racists. Bernie Sanders says we are and many Progressives agree. Left and Right focus on the extremes.
The NYT is so guilty of this too.
The conversation is always about the Black community, sometimes a nod to Latinos but NEVER a word about Asians.
Our Mayor and Schools Chancellor are most certainly anti Asian.
We are not a perfect society but more than any other country in the world we have the most diverse Population with tremendous opportunities.
5
Because god forbid we call racists what they are. Is this really the place we're at as a country? So desperate to pander to these deplorable hillbillies, that they can be as racist as they like, and we dare not even MENTION it for fear of alienating voters?
2
This piece articulates the problem. The left always gives us the false dilemma of (1) support for ever expanding affirmative action policies and ever more open borders, or (2) you are a racist. What do you expect people to do when you tell them these are their options?
Note that there was nothing in here, or in the report meant to save the Democrats, about controlling the border or moving toward a society where we are all treated equally. The left is now wholly wedded to the idea that we must treat people unequally in order to enforce equality of outcomes, and this unequal treatment will never end because we have ever increasing grievances and ever narrowing demands. (How many Hispanic trans differently-abled math professors are there? Clearly their paucity is a sign of systemic transphobic ableist racism.)
11
Mr. Edsall, you are erroneously assuming that progressives and the left are united against racism. Some indeed are, but that is a fraction (to whom a lot is owed). For the rest, issues of racism are plain and simple poverty porn from which they derive sadistic voyeuristic pleasure. Do you really think it is only republicans who are racists?
2
I love the line about ignoring polls.
So what you're saying is even though people are saying and thinking race equality is getting better, just ignore them because they dont know anything.
I think you started writing this, figured out the poll numbers about 1/2 way through, and just decided to finish it anyway even though it goes against your narrative.
I think the Trump is a racist article has been written about 1,457,000 times just in the NYT opinion section alone. They have definitely started to blur together.
5
@John cavendish
Ha! What a great comment!
1
Who is the "anyone" that Thomas has in mind. A migrant? A person of color? A white person? A child?
An old person?A professional? A factory worker? An academic? Someone who is poor? Someone who is homeless?
2
Enforcing our immigration laws is not racism.
11
Talk about compassion and love, like Bernie. “Help someone who doesn’t look like you.”
3
Much of the communication strategy being proposed here amounts to denying known facts, i.e., spreading misinformation and fake news. For instance, "Ellison has hung around radical Islamic groups and defends known terrorists" is a true factual statement. Ellison was long a member of the Nation of Islam and spoke favorably of convicted cop killer Assata Shakur. In 2008 he expressed support for convicted terror financier Sami Al-Arian, the North American head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Similarly, fears of Somali immigrants are legitimate, given that some of joined terrorist groups, and Minnesota cities where Somalis have settled now have problems with criminal Somali gangs.
Reverse racism/discrimination against whites is enshrined into law and policy. “Focusing on race doesn’t fix anything and may even make things worse” is supported by research which has found that anti-bias/sensitivity training makes people more racist, not less.
Perhaps the best communication strategy for reaching persuadables would be to tell the truth, even if it means acknowledging uncomfortable facts?
6
When, and if, America ever decides to take a long hard look at its wretched racist history and policies and also decides to do whatever it takes to make amends, perhaps then. and only then, will it begin to heal from the stain of slavery and from all of the other ways in which millions of non-white people have been made to suffer during the course of our country's history.
1
Trump is the least racist person ever. Isn't that what he told us? And it must be true ... Presidents don't lie to the American people. Wasn't one impeached for doing that?
"Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism?"
No. Because Trump isn't racist.
Don't you feel silly now?
7
Steyer’s pandering on reparations was cringe worthy So typical that Democrats think that African-Americans buy into racial identity politics, and not good jobs, education and security.
9
I'm sorry, but this "Opinion" and the comments are laughable at best as for being any resource for equality and tolerance toward others. It reads more like you need to do this instead of we, or more importantly, I.
2
People you would call racist are scared of becoming a victim of violent crime. Scared to the point of irrationality. I compare it to someone thinking they'd get into a major accident every time they get into a car. They picked up a their sense street smarts from TV where everything fits together perfectly. The evening news features usually black crime. With light skin black people acting very corporate delivering the news.
Call it racist if you want. Telling people reparations for slavery is moral while the people who have to pay for it are from struggling paycheck to paycheck. Cast them out for not meeting your high moral standards but when a person has a decent job with out fear of the future they won't have time to be racist. That's what the Democrats should be aiming for not a retelling of 1691.
5
As H. Rap Brown said in the late 1960s and which is unfortunatly still true today,
"Racism is as American as cherry pie."
3
Exposing the underbelly of American racism is a good thing, after the ignorance of post-racism propaganda following the election of Barack Obama.
Now that the racist forces have a leader in the White House they are eager to advance white supremacy.
America's social, political, and economic DNA is filled with racism, bigotry, and genocide. Donald Trump has used it very well to promote himself, but Charlottesville revealed him as the champion of a dead, but still deadly ideology.
1
What a sad picture, that we humans still exercise bigotry to exploit others, and raise the specter of fear and safety to reject immigrants and minorities (i.e. blacks and latinos). Remember Ben Franklin's assertion, that 'those willing to reject liberty for security deserve neither'? Strength in Unity and true solidarity has been on offer for 'ages'; folks, are we going to allow bigotry, as spewed by Trumpian republicans, to take hold...and worsen the current odious inequality? Can't we see that Trump's intrigues are 'killing' us? To Trump's 'base' I say: wake up and educate thyself, stop being pocketed emotionally by a shrewd demagogue, and charlatan, and being useful idiots, to perpetuate social injustice, in what is supposed to be a democracy?
If Trump's a racist, he's not doing a very good job a being a racist. His approval among Black Americans continues to rise. The NYT instead of reflexively attacking Trump from every angle should try to figure out why Trump is so increasingly popular with ordinary folks of every hue. The NYT doesn't get or understand Trump. The people do.
6
A very appropriate article for my very first read on my new subscription. THIS is why I became a subscriber.
1
Just like a leopard can't change it's spots, trump can't help that he's an inept, vulgar, self-serving narcissistic, bigot, bully. And, he handles all those traits so very well.
2
It is not *racism* for an American President to make policies that put Americans' interests first! That includes all actual Americans! Of every color! And THIS is why Trump will be re-elected. Count on it.
It's been too long since we had a president who put Americans' interests first, front, and center, so it might feel a bit strange to some people, especially those in echo-chamber, liberal-bubble areas. But a hearty percentage of Blacks and Latinos get it now, so there's nothing to whine about! America for Americans!
But gaze at your navel some more, why don't you? Cry crocodile tears with your friends. Commiserate about your white privilege. We cannot take in the whole world, nor should we!
8
Looking at last nights Democrat "debate," if one were from Mars - one would be confused - at the amount of racial pandering by the participants, e.g., Biden and Steyer! That will not work in the general election even though it may work in SC where the Afro-Democrat is a large chunk of the constituency! Reparations are a non-starter! Promises like "reparations" are made but cannot be carried out! Those candidates ultimately just disappoint and anger everyone (for the obvious different reasons)!
3
Trump's racism IS America's racism.
1
The clue: don't be a racialist or racist yourself. "Progressive" activists, often on these pages, cloak themselves in anti-white, anti-men resentment, fear, loathing and propaganda. How do you think this plays outside of the cocoon? Tone down your divisiveness, and all will be well.
4
Yes. Employee the same tactics used to fight back against Obama's racism. That would be a start. Oh, I'm sorry, you never recognized the blatant racism of Obama.
4
Can we eradicate the human stupidity?
If we can't then we cannot eradicate the racism either.
The racism is just a stupidity.
Those individuals wrongly misconstrue somebody as their enemy.
Bias is very powerful. We construe the socialism as something extremely dangerous and haven't head any relationship with Cuba, our first neighbors, for 6 decades.
Since almost 70% of the Cuban population have the African origins, isn't it the form of racism under different name?
China is a communist country with Asian population and we don't have any sanctions against Beijing....
1
There are about 10-12 million Illegal immigrants in the U.S., a country of 325 million. The number has been flat or down since the 2008 crisis. So if minimizing it is in someone’s top 10 issues list, racism is likely overwhelming their reasoning ability.
Further, study after study, and our past as a nation of immigrants, indicate that legal immigration helps us grow our economy. Trump’s draconian restrictions on legal immigration will cost us about $8,000 per family over a decade in lost GDP/income, while forcing taxes higher to cover Social Security and Medicare due to fewer workers paying in.
1
"That history points to the relentless power of racial resentment in American politics."
Hardly. I've traveled quite extensively, and as the son of a Holocaust survivor I carry with me a sort of "eternal outsider" perspective on issues of race and ethnicity. My cautious and carefully considered observation is that racial sentiment in the United States of America is less than in any other country except the Republic of the Philippines (of the 26 countries I've worked and lived in). I say that because, in those countries that *appear* to have less racial sentiment, there are also at most tiny minority communities. All across Europe, we see emerging evidence of what happens when those ancient cultures are exposed to significant minority communities.
Racial sentiment in America is a powerful force that we need to continue to grapple with, but no more and generally quite a bit less than in other countries.
6
Many Americans feel that the country is falling short of its promises of equal opportunity and equal respect. Levels of immigration that are too high only enhance the difficulty of living up to those promises. Reducing immigration, and selecting immigrants more carefully, will enable the country to more quickly and successfully absorb the people who come here, and to ensure equality of opportunity to both the newly arrived and the long-settled—to restore to Americans the feeling of belonging to one united nation, responsible for the care and flourishing of all its people
3
Transparency is very important. As Edsall well knows, the proportion of the population that were immigrants in 1965 was about 1 in 20 and as of 2015 it was about 14% about 1 in 7, or 3 times as many immigrants in the population as a proportion to the total population.
Most of the immigrants are very little education who economically compete with Americans who have little education.
While immigration is good, tripling the proportion of the population from 1 in 20 to 1 in 7 creates great social instability and harms Americans with lower IQs and little education.
Thus, when addressing immigration in context, then Trump is correct to want to limit immigration compared with recent historic levels.
Edsall was well aware of the change in immigration in the past 50 years and should have been transparent.
In addition, Trump rightly deserves a lot of support from those Americans who feel that immigrants should not be living here illegally and should undergo the same process as other immigrants who do follow the law.
It is Democrats who are in the wrong regarding people who live in this nation illegally and for that Trump won by slim margins in swing states. For that reason Trump has appointed two SCOTUS justices and many other federal judges.
Yet, after the election of Trump, Democrats did not learn from their mistakes regarding illegal immigration -- their policy regarding immigration has not changed since 2016.
Trump will win again because of poor Democratic policy.
6
Still believe the 18-40 year old voter can make a big difference in the November 3rd election. They must be motivated to register and then vote.
Let's hope the retiric on both sides don't turn them off.
This election is too important to miss.
VOTE!
What is 'race'?
There is only one biological DNA evolutionary fit human race species that began in Africa 300,000+ years ago.
What we call race aka color is an evolutionary fit pigmented response to varying levels of solar radiation at different altitudes and latitudes primarily related to producing Vitamin D and protecting genes from damaging mutations in ecologically isolated human populations over time and space.
What we call race aka ethnicity and national origin is an evil malign demographic, educational, historical, political and socioeconomic white European American Judeo-Christian mythical plot to legally and morally justify the enslavement of black African American men, women and children while separate and unequal along with the colonization and conquest of brown aboriginal Indigenous men, women and children while separate and unequal.
While race is not scientifically real, racism is an enduring reality.
Despite my genetic and paper documented black African, brown Indigenous, white European and yellow Asian ancestry and heritage by American historical convention I am all and only forever black African American aka one-drop 1/32nd blood ancestry.
While I do not run from nor shun that definition of who I am when asked I proclaim my race as human and my national origin as Earth.
See 'The Race Myth: Why We Pretend That Race Exists in America' Joseph L. Graves; 'Watson Decoded' American Masters PBS
2
One sees the left and the democrats (they didn’t use to be the same) continually say “ no one wants open borders”. Yet they almost unconditionally support: always higher legal immigration, the scamming of the asylum laws, not deporting anyone, loose border enforcement, sanctuary cities, abolishing ICE, not deporting people whose “temporary” visas have expired, catch and release, amnesties, birth tourism, birthright citizenship, chain migration, free healthcare for illegals, decriminalizing illegal entry and on and on. You don’t have to call it “open borders”, but if you support this kind of stuff, it is de facto open borders. It didn’t use to be this way. The democrats were once at the forefront of population issues. Not anymore. By being totally inflexible on this issue they have given us trump and are poised to do it again.
7
Mr.Trump is not anti-immigration; he seems to be for legal immigration and sensible enforcement of existing law.
If the media repeats over and over again that he is "racist", perhaps readers will believe it.
my wish is that each think for themselves.
Meanwhile, some on the left try to politicize everything. It's a message apparently not working for many Americans. Later, you will wonder again why Trump could win when all your friends all think he's so terrible. Open your mind.
8
The 24th amendment was passed in 1964, resulting in the most significant presidential race in our lifetimes also in 1964 when Republican candidate Barry Goldwater won just his home state of Arizona and 5 states of the deep South that had been Democratic (Dixiecrat) for a century.
That same year, Strom Thurmond changed his party affiliation to Republican, and the 24th amendment was passed.
Fast forward to 2015 and the political rise of Trump with his Birther Myth that galvanized his base. We know who these people are, and we know the core within the core is deeply committed to the Culture War that the Civil War has morphed into among Trump supporters in the South.
Slave State Conservatives, the Neo-Confederates, started the Civil War, assassinated the first Republican president Abraham Lincoln, dis-enfranchised their fellow black citizens with the KKK, lynching, poll taxes and Jim Crow laws, and now have taken control of the Republican party.
Southern Slave-State Conservatives are violent people worshiping guns and lying about the real causes of the Civil War. Their support of Trump no matter how immoral his behavior and action might be underscores their immorality and lack of Christian faith; Evangelicals are a political party masquerading as a religion.
4
'Notably, they add, “there was no backlash to conservative framing among liberal participants.”'
Yeah, because I wasn't there.
1
There is a very simple solution to fight Trump's racism: just open your eyes and recognize that Trump is not a racist.
Edsall's op-eds are getting worse and worse.
6
@Gennady
Anyone with actually open eyes would strongly disagree.
2
@Al M How do they know that their eyes are actually open? That's a critical question.
Re” Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism?“
Sure. Advocate for strict equal rights for all.
Defuse divisive purity bombs.
Equal rights goats all boats.
Pursuit of pure perfection sinks the Democratic Party’s chances for President and the senate.
Unite unite unite!
3
You want to end Trump’s racism? Here’s a clue: VOTE HIM OUT! Voting, what a concept. It’s free, it’s available at a location convenient to your home, and the polls are open all day and into the night. Need a ride? Call any candidate ‘s local on the ground get out the vote machine, and they will chauffeur you to the door of the polling place and back home. What could be easier??
3
Liberals cannot be promiscuous with the word "racist." It is a great way to end a political discussion with a conservative before it even gets started. People will not tolerate being called racist.
There is a widespread belief among liberals that conservatives are racist because they believe whites are superior to blacks.
There is a widespread belief among conservatives that liberals are racist because they make every issue about race.
Rather than calling people racist, another approach is to question statements that seem offensive or fact-free. Let the other person talk and really listen to what they have to say. If they say something racist and you just let it hang there, they will often start to backpedal and you've made your point.
Wherever obvious, systemic racism occurs, it should be called out and named. But calling all white conservatives racist is a sure way to get them to immediately stop listening to you, and start pointing out your character flaws.
5
What this piece boils down to: If a leader or voters don't support quasi open borders then they are racist.
The left has given us dozens of new gender identities along with many new forms and proofs of racism while practicing identity politics themselves.
8
@Lane
Borders have always been open -- for the wealthiest.
Was riding down a back country road in North Carolina the other day. Saw a row of trailer homes, each sporting the confederate flag and Trump 2020 signs. This is the other America.
3
There is a reason why you don't solicit blood donors from triage victims.
Most of America, left and right, see a no-growth pie, at least for the bottom 90% of us. It's been that way for the last 30 years.
The pie has shrunk, and continues to shrink, in heartland red states.
In that environment, anything that smacks of favoritism, especially economic, is a lead balloon.
Offering a (justifiable) leg up to communities of color without solving the wider problem of falling economics for the (majority white) general population is throwing gasoline onto a smoldering fire.
Trump isn't solving the problem for these folks. But he is talking to their fears, and giving it an easy focus.
The conditions that made it easier for everyone to be civil-rights friendly in the later 20th century were a generally good, growing private sector economy for the broad middle class.
Dems, and more traditional Republicans, have not gotten it done. And Dems aren't even talking about it now.
Programs like Medicare For All, and free college make sense on many levels macro. But micro, when the biggest private employers in South Bend are Notre Dame and the hospital/health care ecosystem..."you wanna kick one more leg off the stool?? Are you nuts?"
The debates make it look like there is no alternative here. Even sensible Amy has fallen off her game.
If Dems don't start addressing private sector middle class growth immediately as highest priority, it will be KAG for 4 more years. Sigh.
4
The author confuses racism with sovereignty. Trump is the first president in our lifetime to take on and challenge the Mexican Government.
Democrats and Republican administrations for decades have tiptoed around the issue of illegal immigrants who, by the millions, have been shooting their middle fingers at our legal system and have been getting away with it.
Sovereignty includes a country's right to protect its borders from invasions. Trump is the first president to exercise that right and it will get him re-elected
9
How to fight back against Trump's racism? How about we work harder at not offending or threatening the delusional and fragile self identities of the voters who support racist politicians? Let them - those voters - have their racism without paying any price for it. Avoid harshness and leave the door open for them to see the error of their ways and join us. That'll work, right? Trump continues to use racism because it doesn't work for him.
Why is this at all surprising? Aggrieved white Americans feel like they have done everything to make amends for slavery. They feel the effort to make life better for minorities now has overshot the mark making their lives worse. So this is pushback. For Black Americans this is just more of the same. Racism is baked into the pie. It is nothing new for them. White folks want to push them down and maintain superiority. Tell them something they don't already know. So here is the challenge: how do you convince people who have been mistreated for hundreds of years to vote for any Democrat and their lives will get better? While at the same time Trump only has to hint to White Americans they need to vote or their standing in America will fall. Their pain is real and palpable. It's like the difference between acute pain from an injury and chronic pain you have lived with and learned to tolerate for years. For the former you demand to see the doctor. The latter....why bother? Nothing has helped. Nothing will.
"...Trump’s anti-immigrant...campaign"
The difference between being anti-immigrANT versus being anti-immigraTION is like the difference between being anti-soldier versus anti-war. Few understand this! sad.
5
Last night, I once again watched 7 white presidential aspirants debate how best to serve the nation's minorities. One was responsible for New York's stop and frisk war on minorities. Another engineered the high school-to-private prison pipeline. Another invested heavily in those private prisons.
No, nominating a black or Hispanic female as Veep, does nothing to correct this dysfunction and forty years of accomplishing nothing and making things worse, is not a record to stand on while remonstrating against the opposition.
Democrats are part of the problem.
Whatever happened to "all men are created equal"? I find the use of the phrase by the "political scientists", King and Smith of "racially conservative Americans" an unhealthy avoidance of the more to the point (and accurate) descriptor - RACIST Americans.
What is the meaning of "racially conservative" other than someone who makes stereotypical distinctions between people on the basis of their superficial attributes of appearance - most notably skin color? And what is the significance of that... other than indulging in racism?
People who are afraid to call a thing by its name can hardly claim the mantle of scientific inquiry.
Do I feel sorry for the backwardness and ignorance exhibited by racists? Yes. Sort of. It runs deep in this country and is a proven tool of manipulation. Are there differences between people who would freely lynch an African-American and those who merely deprive them of a job or a seat at a lunch counter? Yes. However, it is the legions of the later in American society that has historically enabled the former.
It's long past the time when it might have been appropriate to mince words (as in... never). Racially conservative Americans are racist Americans.
Real Americans need to put their feet down and make their voices heard on these most fundamental of injustices - xenophobia and racial discrimination. The immediate political expression of that is driving Donald J. Trump from office come Tuesday, November 3, 2020. And it can't come soon enough.
Best way to do it is to sweep the Republicans out of office in Nov 2020.
3
The answer is simple, whether you are liberal, moderate, or conservative. Zero tolerance of racism, and that includes zero tolerance of both Trump's bigotry and Bernie Sanders' Corbyn-style anti-Semitism as most recently expressed by him in the debate.
3
@Paco Are you really calling a Jewish man anti-Semitic?
@Paco Bernie is Jewish. His family was decimated by the nazis. Your post makes zero sense.
1
While I now support Bernie Sanders, his constant attacks on the wealthy for being greedy racists leaves me nonplussed. For Sanders to Scapegoat the wealthy is no better than the Republicans scapegoating poor blacks and immigrants. Rather, Sanders and the democrats should frame economic hardship for blacks and whites as policy issues rather than accusations of racism or greed.
2
If the "keeping us safe" line sells well with "persuadables," then it should be a good idea to point out that the FBI considers white supremacists and domestic terrorists to be a higher threat than Islamic-fringe sources of terror. Violence is coming from within. Who will keep us safe from that? Not the guy who likes terrorists marching in Charlottesville.
2
Two specific ideas:
1. Read and promote Tom Friedman's ideas he expressed in his NYT Op-ed on Tuesday, Feb 25th. The Dem candidate discloses to America the TEAM s/he would bring together to work as a TEAM to rid us of the toxicity spread by trump and his sycophants he has surrounded himself with who, like Grenell as his know-nothing national security chief, are only good at saying "yes sir, whatever you say, Mr. Trump," no matter the consequences. Let's vote for the team, iust just the captain
2. Express a true, compelling and distinct vision of America's future and our role in the world - a vision that is about uniting all of us instead of the sickness of divisiveness rampant under trump.
Enlist our better angels. Speak to the reality of our time and the future - the world is getting crowded, whites are a vast minority at the global level and if we cannot work and play together, share out toys with others, then there is no future, no matte your race, culture, language or religion.
Imagine all the world's faith leaders stepping on to the stage together to declare their commitment to live, work, play and worship in peace together, work together to solve the massive challenges facing humanity - starting with taking urgent action on the climate emergency, investing in the low carbon clean renewable energy economy and future. Would people listen?
White people (like me) were not the first here - we slaughtered Native Americans and enslaved black people for 400 years.
The most powerful Democratic message says we all have to work together.
And racial justice activists, tired of being given the run around by liberal whites in powerful positions, decide they cannot work with working and middle class whites.
And many of of those working and middle class whites voted for Trump because they felt alienated and ignored by whites in power and blamed by nonwhites.
Somebody somewhere has to bend.
2
Instead of having respect for the concerns of 1/2 this nation, all I'm reading here is various angles & strategies to the assumed racism.
Maybe a better approach would be to slow down the judgement, stop all forms of divisive identity politics, which is the root cause of right wing reactionaries, and proceed more cautiously before calling people racists just because they disagree with those promoting identity politics.
We're all humans, most people we disagree with are of the same race, family members, co-workers, friends, etc. Many people are moody, dysfunctional, depressed, arrogant, etc. It's called human nature yet we have this political scam which in spite of all evidence to the contrary, many on the left appear to be anti-white as they blame the universal problems of all human cultures & communities on the racism of people who have been dead for centuries.
Reality check: most people barely agree with their own siblings, parents or friends on many topics yet it's assumed that somehow we have an allegiance to the belief systems of dead people whom we have never met that lived in the USA long before our ancestors ever even immigrated here?
While BLM are sincere, they ignored the FBI fact that minority officers are more likely to shoot AA's than white officers or that adjusted for specific situations, nearly as many whites are killed per capita as blacks by the police but you don't know this because the media ignores the deeper issues of human nature & criminality.
60
@John Carlo: In the US, the dead rule the living though necromancers who claim to know what the dead still think.
2
@John Carlo
Say what? The folks who are asking for equal women's rights, equal voting rights, and equal civil rights are the actual cause of the rise of Trump white nationalists and white supremacists? Not that I don't understand why those white conservative Trumpy folks are unhappy about uppity Democrats, or unhappy that they can no longer lord their unearned and unmerited white conservative entitlements and dominance over the rest of us--
3
@John Carlo
The author has stated that claims of racism on the left are not effective specifically to 59% of our electorate that appear persuadable. Also, you as well as many others completely miss the point of BLM by stating that black cops shoot black people. They are law enforcement black or white. If a white person is shot by police for no good reason than that is also an injustice, however, please point out incidents where white kids, home owners, unarmed of by gunned down by police on video. And God only knows what you are referring to in your last comment.
5
Nice article, but you seem to have missed these points:
The gains from immigration are divided very unequally. Immigrants reap most of them. Wealthy Americans claim much of the rest, in the form of the lower prices they pay for immigrant-produced services. Low-income Americans receive comparatively little benefit, and may well be made worse off, depending on who’s counting and what method they use.
And finally, while the impact of immigration on what the typical American earns is quite small, its impact on government finances is big. Estimates from the National Academy of Sciences suggest that on average, each immigrant costs his or her state and local governments $1,600 more a year in expenditures than he or she contributes in revenues.
6
Power needs and grows from money. You are talking ideas and words. Important? Yes. Sufficient? No. So far generally off the table is one topic: money. Who is paying the racists, what banking networks are they using and on what platforms, through what distribution systems are they spreading their beliefs and attitudes? These all involve companies and systems which involve people. People who are profiting while spreading the lies and hate. Expose those people, clearly identify them, name them and their families, up to an including the Chairmen(because it is almost always a man in that position) of the Boards. Identify the clergy, all levels and powers who under the guise of "being positive" or "focusing on mission" or whatever excuse they use to justify their silence refuse to clearly, frequently and consistently identify racism where it exists, isolate their congregations into any "us vs them" model and divide their community from any other community. Hold the clergy morally responsible and pull the entire money industry into the open. Then bring in the data analysts and begin with a focus on what skin color holds the most power in terms of numbers and wealth. without an understanding of the networked and socially supported institutions spreading racism all the best ideas and approaches become mostly busy work. We are better than this but without the basic information we get trapped by those who are organized and entrenched.
1
Trump loves it when Democrats fight for the rights of undocumented immigrants and wins every time Dems make that their focus.
Liberals already have the empathy vote, it is people that feel the Democrats care more about minority groups, especially the undocumented, than them that threaten to give Trump another term.
The only way Democrats can successfully fight back against Trump's racism is by not focusing on racial identity and instead on economic identity.
Socio-economic disparity is the most damaging consequence of racism, however much the current escalation of racist violence in this country.
Addressing this doesn't require a focus on race so much as a focus on the high level of poverty in this country. When you lift up the poor you help destroy racism at the core. Democrats haven't been willing to spend adequately on doing this since FDR and have sought to solve it on the cheap.
LBJ's war on poverty was extremely underfunded, while his war in Vietnam certainly was not. Ever since, we've squandered trillions on senseless war and military build up. How much better that money could have been spent to address our real problems.
5
The NYT’s columnists have been ensnared in the everything is racist trap. The words meaning has morphed into doing something that someone else does not like. Sealing off the border and requiring people to follow the letter of the law to gain entry into the US is not racist. Deporting people who are here illegally, and get into trouble with the law is not racist.
There has been a concerted effort by the mainstream media to redefine illegal aliens as immigrants or undocumented workers. They are neither, but are trespassers who illegally entered the US. No one is against legal immigration which has well documented laws and procedures defining how to do it. The comparison to ancestors being immigrants just like the illegal aliens is disingenuous and everyone knows it. When our all of our ancestors came to the US the government was actively pursuing and welcoming anyone who would settle here.
Finally the progressive politicians want to compare our schools, healthcare and just about anything else Europe does as being superior, however they overlook the immigration part. The citizen of another country cannot trespass (or overstay a visa) into Europe and stay. There are pesky laws requiring one to be financially independent and capable of speaking the language. No one calls the EU racist though because it dies not fit the narrative.
7
It is a mistake to identify Trump as merely an extension of past GOP politics.
Trump is something completely different, an American demagogue, in the tradition of someone like Mussolini. The GOP (with the sole exception of Romney) has now become the cult of King Donald, promoting every one of Trump’s thousands of lies.
Trump sees enemies among immigrants, refugees, minorities, the Press, our government agencies, and our Allies. The GOP has endorsed all of this.
But the American People are better than this. The Democrats should focus all their efforts on creating a broad, unified front against Trump and the GOP.
The survival of American Democracy is at stake.
Vote Blue, no matter who!
5
The Democrats need to do surgery on Trump...to extract OUR economy from his narrative.
The theme that needs to be hammered home in speeches and ads in varying degrees of detail is that the Democrats have policies which will not only sustain our vibrant economy, but which will make it fairer, sustainable for the future, and harnessed to meet our common challenges. They also need to prove that our Democracy cannot survive Trump’s lies, divisiveness, incompetence, corruption, bigotry and defiance of the Constitution.
Specific policies should be highlighted as well as specific examples of Trump’s Reign of Error and Terror.
1
As another writer, Carl, said, "American was built on a foundation of racism...". By accepting this beginning point and then HONORING the tremendous contribution of that FREE LABOR to our national success binds together the white working class today with former black slaves. Whites and blacks do have a common past and a common future.
When I discovered my great-great-grandfather had slaves in Virginia, I realized that I was a beneficiary of that contribution of labor. My initial shame became appreciation and humility for what I had received.
@75 The vast majority of use whose ancestors never owned any slaves, or indeed never even lived in a slave state, and who may have fought for the union in the civil war, have nothing to feel sorry for.
The Dems are too busy boxing each other. Strategy is not part of that boxing match. It just involves a lot of punching.
1
Also, social justice advocates who do not wish to bring working class whites into their movement are making a huge mistake.
Working class "whites" are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the waves of middle and southern European immigrants who came to this country in the 80 years between 1840 and 1924. They are Irish-, German-, Polish-, Italian-, Eastern European Jewish- and other foreign-born-American immigrants whose forebears arrived here before the Immigration Act of 1923 closed America for the next forty years.
They think they are "white," but when their ancestors first arrived they were discriminated against as unwanted "others." On the floor of the House of Representatives, Italian and Jewish immigrants were referred to as "racial lepers."
These "white" people have forgotten who they are. The family members who came through Ellis Island have died off, so the first lesson of America has been lost to them.
So for social justice advocates, the first item of business is to remind these people, who think they are white, who and what they really are. They are immigrants, a few generations later.
They believe they are assimilated. They are not.
They have more in common with people of color who came to these shores both before and after them, and with whom they share a similar socio-economic profile, than they do with longer-arrived Anglo-Saxon Protestant immigrants living with a higher bank balance.
Wake up. We have more in common than you think.
5
It may just take the simple passing of a decade or two, after which white Americans (I am one) will be a minority, and the effects of rampant racism among a large percentage of them won't be much of an issue.
Even though these are dark days, I can't help but feel we are seeing the end rather than a resurgence of Trump-style appeals to racism and animosity. These folks know their days of controlling all the levers of power are coming to a close, and they are kicking and screaming on their way out.
It still astonishes me that young, ambitious Republicans like Rubio and Cruz and Sasse are hitching their wagons to a movement that, while burning bright at the present, will wane to irrelevance in the near future. But I suppose common sense and intelligence are never a hallmark of politics defined by racism and ignorance.
@Steven Most Hispanics are white, and if you count white Hispanics as white then America stays white much longer. White hispanics have very little in common with most illegal immigrants, and won't joint the dems because of that.
After laying out the basic tenets of what it means to be American, would it be too naive to simply ask every American to truly help make America what America claims to be?
1
The Democrats need a strategy for winning back that portion of the moderate-conservative, working class electorate that left the party in 1980 to vote for Reagan: the so-called law-and-order Democrats.
They have been out there voting for Republicans for 40 years with little to no attempt by Democrats to win them back.
Before Reagan, these people were Roosevelt-Truman-Kennedy Democrats, union members or skilled blue collar workers, and reliably pro-progress, pro-education, pro-healthcare, pro-family formation and pro-religion of some kind.
Then came Reagan, who carried out policies that undermined everything in their lives; who lied to them repeatedly; and whom they voted for because the rhetoric distracted them.
Why did this happen?
First, because Democrats are horrible--awful--at understanding and speaking about kitchen table/family economics and values: how real people spend and save their money; how they live.
Second, Dems never attacked and repudiated Reagan's supply side economics, which has devastated the bottom 99% since 1980. At best, they were mum; at worst, they bought into it themselves because see #1 above.
Third, Dems also went along with Reagan's purging of moderates and liberals from the Republican party by purging moderates and conservatives from the Democratic party. This has led to two zombie parties with no ability to form factions
between and among them to pass laws.
Now they are encamped with Trump.
6
@Biff
Fourth, Democrats continually offer increased welfare and claim these folks are "voting against their economic interests". This is an utter failure to understand that what these folks view their economic interest as having a good paying jobs with benefits, not government handouts.
3
The polls that Mr. Edsall cites regarding a greater acceptance of racial equality are wrong. People don't want to admit to racial animosity so they something else and that gets recorded as acceptance.
There is a deep, deep strain of racial hatred in this country that goes back centuries and has not abated. In fact, the immigration issue has ignited it further.
African-Americans continue to bear the brunt of the hatred for terribly unjust reasons. Hispanics are next, mostly based on immigration. I fear Asians will soon get their dose if the coronavirus is not contained soon.
The reason behind this racism is simple and singular. Many White people truly believe they are superior to other races in culture and accomplishment. That will never change among the hardcore bigots. Never.
No surprises here. In the 2016 election the three most common reasons people voted for Trump were, in order, hatred of Hillary, anti-immigration and anti-Muslim. With no Hillary look at what's left.
1
Vote him out. It stops.
The rest of the country will remain as racist as it always was, is, and will be, but at least they won't feel free to wear it on their sleeves. And government institutions that have been turned into vehicles for official racism an xenophobia will return to instruments of public service.
1
So someone had an ENTIRE SUIT made from a candidate’s inability to understand the complexity of border security?
The only solution to Trump's racism is to vote him out of office in November, 2020. All the rest is just conversation.
4
The sad reality is that we still have not settled the civil war from over 150 years ago. The south still has a bunch of whites who still believe that they are superior to people of color and somehow they need to win back that "freedom" to think that way. The GOP has just utilized and exploited that strategy to win elections. Nixon may have first started that movement, but I think Reagan masterfully cultivated and established it into the GOP. Yet historians consider him a great President. Now it is normal policy.
This is really bad news for America because we are only a minor disaster away from people starting a race baiting battle which will put us in line with 3rd world countries suffering the same fate. I sincerely hope the next generation can somehow bridge this gap and reconcile that all men(and women) are created equal and all can live to fulfill that great American dream together.
1
You treat racism in the same way you treat any other human stupidity - you don't react to it, you ignore it and move on with your life.
If you react to stupidity, then you waste your entire life on coping with it. That's Sisypfus job with no end in sight.
1
It is this simple. I will be supporting the party that doesn't give support and credence to white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. Clearly the candidates represented by the democratic party.
5
Americans should be reminded of how their behavior is being recorded for the scrutiny of generations to come and how history will hold them accountable for that behavior.
Today, and in the future, the internet and other technology have torn away—and will continue to tear away—the cloaks of obscurity and anonymity that shielded those who saw evil and said nothing in the past. In the future, the inaction of such persons will be accessible to all with search engines to explore the internet.
Citizens today who know full well how wrong racism is and say nothing, convey tacit approval to that evil and are indirectly complicit in it.
3
When comedians or humourists make racist jokes (they may or nay not be racist themselves, and they sometimes make the jokes about their own race) they require the acceptance of the audience. When an audience really doesn’t accept it, they boo and walk out, and this does happen. So the question to ask is, why do Trump’s comments land and find traction with their audience? Why are time honoured values of tolerance, respect and openness so weak at this point in time?
I understand and endorse the criticism of Trump, but it is change in the economy over the last 30 years that opened US workers to competition from low paid foreign workers which undermined the relative value of American workers at all but the highest levels. This destructive experience was not repaired or compensated by cheap foreign products. Material wealth does not make up for a compromised career-job experience. The negative attitudes of some of the US population and some of its leaders reflect the threat that these people perceive from others. We may not like the ugly attitude and it surely hurts people that have to endure it, but it does not come from nowhere.
7
I think there is more racism in the Democratic party then anywhere else.
They are obsessed with identity politics and victimization and pitting factions against one another.
Look what they did to their minority candidates seeking the presidential nomination. The changed the rules to let a republican in.
Can't blame this on Trump.
11
Really thoughtful article drawing on actual research. Way more in-depth than most. Nice work!
2
Perhaps the problem is unregulated capitalism, which is the common denominator among racism and xenophobia. If left under-regulated, capitalism will extract and exploit any and all values on earth. Both racism and caging immigrant children are illegal, yet law enforcement is indoctrinated and funded to maintain this old economic model.
We would never have people try to ride directly on the engine of their SUV... Somehow, we must keep the democracy balanced atop the economy.
4
What can beat Trump's racism? For starters, his racism appeals to about 41%-43% of Americans - this is about the size of the group the 538 tracker says approve of Trump. How to capture the 57%-59% of the US who does not approve of Trump. Begin with an economic message, a la Sanders or Warren. The economic message includes the many things that laissez faire policy has broken since Ronald Reagan, including monopolies (anti-trust), wages, wealth, taxes, healthcare, childcare, and more. Second, Democrats must have a woman is the candidate or the vice president nominee, because more woman than men dislike Trump and they need a person to vote for like themselves. Third, make corruption a major campaign issue. Trump was impeached. He obstructed two investigations: Mueller and Ukraine. He lies incessantly. He is BFF with dictators. He is the most corrupt president in US history. Use his corruption against him, because at leat 57%-59% of Americans prefer their government to have rule of law. There may be more ways to beat Trump, but these are my top three. Democrats can win with these three.
7
It's so easy to be a liberal when we are isolated from harsh reality. I wrote an article "How I became a Trump deplorable" that I will condense here. It was on a busy Greenwich Village street one night in the late 1960s. An African American was high, or drunk, but was playing a game wielding a skate board to scare people. Right in front of me he turned, and threatened a girl, who I yelled to avoid him. He then turned to me, raised the weapon and then just threw it away, as it was all a joke.
But for a second, I had a sense of guilt, that I was a racist in warning that young woman---- and then it hit me, I could have saved her life, and now I'm feeling guilt!!!
Racism is pernicious, yet there are groups who do disproportionate violence to innocent people. Bloomberg had stated this, that stop-and-frisk saved both black and whites from assaults, but has abandoned such honesty to fulsome continuous asking for forgiveness.
When the meme to "Eliminate ICE" first was spoken by a few newly elected democrats, there was no statement by the party that ICE should be reformed but not eliminated. Democrats are supporting a Bernie Sanders model as a visceral appeal at the same intellectual level of his opponent.
And the one seasoned effective and humane candidate, Amy Kolbechar, can't get enough traction to be the party's nominee.
The challenge of the moment is great.
7
@Call Me Al
What you describe is a non sequitur. Plenty of people have experiences in the same vein of what you describe. Do I feel a bit racist when I'm walking on the street feeling more wary of African Americans? Yes.
But I sit with that discomfort, acknowledge it's part of normal human condition and may not be wholly unwarranted, yet also acknowledge it should not be a basis for organizing our society or expanded upon. On the balance, individuals usually don't mean each other harm, and I think focusing on that is a better way to live and have a happy society.
I don't mind living with that somewhat inconsistent feeling. I definitely don't vote for Trump because of it.
@Sarah
Nor did I, or would I vote for Trump. Your assumption that I did illustrates why a broader discussion such as my comment was meant to engender does not gain any traction.
Our identity -- political cultural and various other dimensions make observations such as mine rare.
1
The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s fought an entrenched, wealthy, and arrogant White Power Structure.
The present article is wrong to project this type of white racism forward to the present.
While white anger now recycles fragments of that defeated dominant culture, it is driven by rage at the destruction of the mainly white industrial working class of the Midwest.
Articles like this one generally ask "how does one deal with a racism of the right which is founded on the delusion that whites are now oppressed".
The left will keep losing until it changes the question to "how does one deal with a racism based on the correctly perceived victimization of the traditional white working class by globalization: i.e. victimization by the shipping of US industrial jobs overseas, largely to non-white countries.
It's worse. Instead of developing new industries for the mutilated Midwest, our leaders have built a new technologically advanced industrial base on the coasts, one which employs many non-white immigrants.
The enemy of the workers, of course, is the establishment, whose bipartisan policy of globalization destroyed many in the lower class.
But, that's a subtlety, one missed even by educated Blue state techies. The faces of the policy are non-white and, understandably, white racism is the response.
Rage. Justified rage. Aimed in the wrong direction.
Directed internally, it's given us the opioid deaths.
Directed externally, it's given you Trump.
7
Thanks — great points, eloquently made.
1
Trump wins because he speaks to the gut of the voter whereas Democrats are left speaking to their brain. Like voting or falling in love, the decision is made most times with the gut. The Republicans have an "in-group" bias, meaning they favor their own tribe, whereas what causes white liberals to lose is that they have an "out-group" bias in which they favor and speak to issues that pertain to the "out-groups", groups that look different than them, in this case black and brown people. Given the match up between these two groups of parties, the party with an "in-group" bias will win most of the time over the one diluting it's power with an "out-group" bias because there are many "out-groups", and only one "in-group".
@No big deal ...unless the out-groups unite and overpower the outnumbered in-group!
Democrats should have been calling the conservative, GOP agenda for what it is ever since 'the moral majority' - racist. One this scripture gained a foothold in mainstream media via talk radio and Fox, it was not going to go away only get stronger. The Democratic establishment have been asleep at the wheel for the past 25 years when it comes to race. What has been accomplished when it comes to hate crimes and police brutality? What has been done about gun violence and the murder of Black and Brown people? All social media has done is if you catch some one saying a bad word or using a pejorative racial term on line, then you can pressure them to apologize or maybe lose some sort of prestige. This has fed into this woke culture where now Democrats and Progressives "devour their own." Guess what? Most Americans are over Bloomberg's stop and frisk - including older Black Americans. When candidates have the nerve to call out racism on the other side instead of only within, then there might be some progress. These candidates need to have the guts to frame ANYONE who supports Trump as supporting racism. His supporters will literally say something racist to a reporter and then decry that "see now they are going to say I'm a racist." It is stupefying. The media and Dems need to call it out. If they do not, then they really are trying to court the racist vote and just dress it up as "the forgotten people", "white working class", "afraid of losing their way of life", etc. vote.
2
Trump is a counterrevolutionary who has simply activated prevalent reactionary sentiments among the next generation Nixonian “silent majority.” Revolutionary leftist race/intersectional radicals demanding ever expanding affirmative action, speech suppression, confiscatory racial redistributionist taxation, Zinnian historical myth-making, etc., are the source of Trump’s power. Sensing this, Democrats are going for broke, all in for the Revolution. I think Weld for President could help us snap back to a George HW Bush/Bill Clinton political equilibrium. That’s where we should go.
1
When examining the anti-immigrant attitude coming out of this White House, all one has to do is realize there was a common refrain during 1930's Europe that 'common sense would prevail', a sentiment held by many German citizens, primarily the families of soldiers who fought during WWl and especially the soldiers themselves.
Many veterans and their families asked "How could the German Government not protect those who fought during the first World War from being persecuted, shipped to concentration camps"? They framed their belief with the notion, 'common sense will prevail'.
They were wrong.
With that said, it is now apparent that we need to recognize the bias toward swarthy complected peoples coming out of this White House.
Obvious from Trump's first days in the White House, his travel bans being just one example. But most importantl his lack of a response reaction to the millions of dollars worth of damage by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, accompanied by that staggering death toll, killing over 3,000, is so indicative of a blatant and increasingly organized sense of racism.
3
Eric Hopper comes to mind.
He wrote this in the early 1950s, before Twitter and fake news:
“All mass movements, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred, and intolerance. Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.”
This best explains the success of Donald Trump.
1
As indifference is the opposite of love, so it is the opposite of care, responsibility and even civility. Trump's moral authority is more in the nature of barbaric behavior in the style of Scott Fitzgerald's take on the careless rich. He is careless to a fault and a headless leader.
1
It seems weird to me that so many White people seem to buy into this notion of "reverse racism." An essential component of racism requires power—and in the US people of color still largely lack the power to damage the interests of white people. Just look around--White people still occupy almost all positions of power and leadership in the US. Reverse racism is a myth created by racists after the Civil War when freed slaves were starting to get a few of the rights that Whites had always taken for granted. Sad that the idea persists to this day.
5
We may be coming to the end of the road here.
Diverse societies, with the exception of America, are not particularly well-functioning societies. Religion further aggravates things - providing even non-racial lines for division and hate. I think these are human failings, not uniquely American failings and definitely not uniquely white failings.
For a time, the tide was rising enough to paper over some of the strife. Being the sole power after WWII gave people a lot of mental comfort and space to try new things. And a lot of people have tried really hard to be accepting. But "all men are created equal" is not something that has been done before on our scale, and is not something we are naturally inclined to do.
We should keep trying, but failure is a real possibility.
4
In a school desegregation case, Chief Justice John Roberts famously wrote, “The only way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
I disagree with the court’s opinion in that case, but I am reminded of it every time I read articles that explain the appeal of Trump’s racism or messaging that suggests Democrats essentially should not call out racism. Everything is not racist, but some things are. We cannot ignore it.
The only way to stop racism is for people to stop being racist.
53
@Jen ...So that would suggest the answer to Mr. Edsall’s question is a resounding NO.
1
@Jen
Hmm, the only way to lose weight is to lose weight. Thanks for this.
1
@Jen
No.
Rather the only way to stop Racism
is to stop speaking of Races.
6
The Trump base is impressionable and unsophisticated. So nominating an even older white man will impress and peel some off right from the start.
Now that companies can profit off racist clothing—who knew you could purchase a build-the-wall-sport coat like the one in the lead picture—I’m afraid we’re beyond the point of no return.
1
The term "racism" has been hijacked and convoluted by the far left. During the last five years I've been hearing about an amorphous set of rules that apply to me because of my, "White privilege." I feel that term is overtly racist against me. However if I express that sentiment, I'll invariably be called a racist. So I can't win for losing.
Trump certainly panders to racist groups and he may have selfish reasons for doing so- but I can't make the claim with 100% certainty Trump is a racist. Much to the same account that far left groups say I am a beneficiary of, "White privilege." Show me the proof..
7
Trump is just one person. To fight racism you would have to fight the majority of Americans, many who do not think they are racists. Many racists are not even white people. Racism is common in ignorant peoples, and the people of the US are the most ignorant among the supposedly "advanced nations".
You need to educate people but it's difficult to get people to listen to the educational system since it does not actually teach people the truth but insists they be good serfs and bow to their corporate overlords and to crazy beliefs in magical people in the sky.
The media and politicians cannot say the truth because they need you to buy what they are selling. If they tell the truth you will stop listening to them.
Thanks for publishing this. The scary thing is, Trump’s supporters will deny that they’re racist, even as they support blatantly racist policies.
I don't know, Mr. Edsall . . . Moderates and progressives have been fighting back against Trump's racism since the 1980's. Perhaps you should be posing question to the lickspittles in Congress who fawn over him, who happen to be, um, conservatives . . .
Moderates and progressives are not responsible for Trump and his repulsive behavior; the people who vote for him and cheer him on at his taxpayer-funded Bund rallies and the Republican lawmakers who let him get away with his garbage with a shrug and "whaddyagonnado?" are the ones responsible.
2
Someday... someday when poor/working class whites realize they are in the same boat with poor/working class people of color, they will build a coalition.
The past 40 years the GOP has successfully driven the wedge of identity politics and racism between these two groups who are all share a similar economic reality.
Once a white/color coalition is established the party of Trump will dissipate into the annals fo history.
Why? Because the the GOP consistently uses wedge politics to divide this class of people for the votes they need, to win power, so the GOP can deliver to its real constituency- the elite.
4
It is risky, requiring a particular persona to have it come off right, but Trump needs to be taken head-on, using his own tactics. His worst traits should be mocked and a light on them - possibly SNL style.
His racism could be beaten down by highlighting the immigrants, blacks, Jews, Hispanics, etc. who have made out country great and show that by restricting new 'blood' into the American Dream, we are doing ourselves a disservice. Trumps own people have recently pointed out that without immigrants, we will prevent ourselves from expanding a productive workforce.
Turn Trumps words and policies against himself. Attack him.
2
The US has a long history of organized crime. The politicians and media which equate “immigrant” with “cartel” are doing a disservice to absolutely everyone. Most immigrants are not themselves members of organized crime and they are also not individual lawbreakers. Society does not yet have a narrative for opposing actual organized crime and actual international organized crime, without demonizing immigrants. We desperately need this and we have needed it for decades. The interconnected challenges posed by immigration in general are not at all the same as the challenges posed by international organized crime. But our failure to create adequate policy has allowed these issues to merge in the American mind. We must change this. I’d like to see a discussion of the US-born, non-Latino, white cartel associates. However many (not all) are working class and, by choice, are not visible to the pundit class.
How things are discussed, matters. This Race-Class Report is very interesting. I’ll be reading this research again.
Democratic candidates must finally admit that they'll never win over Trump voters.
Shortly after the election, many claimed that we should "reach out" to Trump voters. That they felt "left behind". That they just wanted their jobs back. That they were basically good people who were duped. I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now. But now we have three years of solid evidence proving what Trump voters are really motivated by - hate. And this is precisely the reason why Trump will win a second term.
Of course he hasn't provided his voters any economic relief. No "beautiful health care program". And they haven't gotten their jobs back. And in some other democracy, or in some other time, this might have hurt Trump's re-election chances.
Trump has the solid majority of whites who love that he's said the KKK and neo-Nazis are some very fine people. Trump's racism is a feature, not a bug for them. His screeds give them a way to absolve themselves - of their bigotry, their failures, their willful ignorance - by blaming those "other" people.
And as long as Trump reflects their racism, his base will never leave him. Trump voters would see their children go sick with illnesses they can't afford to treat. They just want him to keep telling them that as whites, they're the only "real" Americans.
Trump voters love the ignorant, racist backwater our nation has turned into, and because of this, not in spite of it, they will hand him a second term.
5
Media. Just stop hanging onto every word he writes on his private Twitter account. Have you never trained a dog? Ignore him
4
Great op ed.
Since Trump supporters can’t plausibly deny their president is supported by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, they resort to peddling the lame propaganda that “racism” no longer has any meaning. It’s really their only way to deflect from their support of a white nationalist, which they won’t admit.
2
More emphasis must be placed on getting out the vote. Persuading those who support and/or voted for Trump is extremely difficult. He "models" an attitude of infallibility, even though he contradicts himself constantly. To the extent that they weren't, in the first place, the kind of people who can never admit error, he has encouraged that attitude in them.
Eugene McCarthy said once that all you needed to decide not to vote for George Wallace was enough sense to come in out of the rain. Trump voters fell below this threshold last time (and he is more insidious even than Wallace was). How many of them can be lifted above it this time?
Our only hope is that they are in the minority, and the task is the make sure that the vote reflects that.
3
It should be noted that Minnesota (10 Electoral votes) is cited in the Viewpoint several times. This is the State that the Trump campaign, via its polling, believes it can flip in the 2020 Election. If so, it negates the possibility of Arizona (11 Electoral votes) going the other way. After the 2020 Census, the Electoral College Map is redrawn, and definitely to the advantage of the Republicans.
Cory Booker more than anyone else adopted the Greater Than Hate mantra as the basis for his campaign and was largely ignored.
3
@IGUANA
It is central to the Sander campaign and he has important help (no it isn't Putin)
https://youtu.be/x7qfcIX8q70
1
Is there any chance people will ever embrace or at least encourage voting on behalf of the welfare of others instead of their own personal interests?
Simply embracing and encouraging that perspective would be so powerful. It would patriotic in the best sense of the word and would encourage people to vote more as a parent of children of disparate abilities, perspectives, motivations, etc.
6
Words matter. How we speak about "faith, family, country and law and order" matters. Liberals and traditionalists have much more in common respecting compassion for our fellow humans, patriotism, love of family and the rule of law than divide us. We should try to speak in terms that those we seek to persuade easily relate to. But the root cause of much of the current upwelling of racial animus is economic hardship, suffering and fear. To "fight back against Trump's racism" we have to move the country in a direction of much more broadly shared prosperity and opportunity. That's why Sanders and Warren are right when they say we need urgently structure change. Incremental tinkering at the edges will not change the current fast moving acceleration of economic and thus legal and political inequality in America. As conditions worsen current strife along urban/rural, religious/secular and interracial lines will only worsen.
3
Herein lies the crux of the problem that will lead to 4 More Years of Trump.
"Progressives" are as much at odds with moderates as they are with Trump. As a moderate, I'm hated by both sides who believe its their way or no way.
What has happened to the traditional values of compromise, consensus, working together to solve problems? The ideologues will say, if you are willing to compromise....Do It My Way Because I'm Right.
Look at the Bernie supporter posts. If you will vote for anyone against Trump, throw away your concerns about Bernie and vote for him because I'll vote for him, or Trump. My way or no way.
3
It remains very difficult to convince the 41 percent of nonvoters from 2016 to show up for anyone but Trump in part because the white fragility and earnestness that is eroding the core sensibility of the Democratic Party is a hard pill for some of the most well-meaning white moderates to swallow. But Dr. King told us that white moderates were a danger; I believe they are more dangerous than the President, his enablers and his party because they think that they are entitled to their racism, sexism/misogyny and classism because they do things to "help those people." At least the Republicans are honest and clear about where they stand; it's the reason so many are easily persuaded by them.
1
Yes, call Candace Owens. She has your answer. But you'll have to listen with both ears open. Good luck.
7
Much has been said about Trump's ability to use hate and prejudice to his advantage. The demographics of the election are still very close. Trump will lose both coasts, the areas where most of the economic growth is taking place. Trump's record has shows little economic benefit in the areas that were critical to him in 2016. Plus there will be no surprises that hurt Clinton from social media. Trump's game plan is clear. So the Democrats need to focus on organization and mobilization. Both of which Sanders has done very successfully. He will have a much more energetic campaign than Clinton's top heavy fly over campaign. Clinton had the erroneous notion that her victory was inevitable. Sanders' grass roots campaign is highly motivated and will be democracy driven. The poor and the middle class will be part of a campaign that will show that democracy can be used for their benefit. It will not be big money dependent which most other Democrats seem to think is essential to win. This will be democracy against a hate spewing plutocrat that could care less about the people who vote for him. Trump depends on a demoralized electorate for his perverse message to have its greatest effect. Sanders' excites his supporters with the challenge of defeating Trump.
3
Wonderful article. It is rare to find a Times Editorial Writer who is not afraid to emphasize the paramount reason for Trump's success. The issue is all controlling. Unfortunately, the reservoir of White animosity is very deep. I submit that the solution to this tragic American issue is not determining how to structure policies and issues in a manner to avoid racial contexts. To do so perpetuates the problem. The horror and ugliness of racism must be confronted directly. We also forget that but a few years have passed since the assassination of MLK, race riots, George Wallace's candidacies and southern lynchings. I have no clue as to how to fight back against racism. In sections of this great nation children are taught to be racists by their parents, Sunday school teachers, pastors and teachers. Trump hasn't created America's racists. He succeeds by tapping into the hatred obviously possessed by nearly half of America. No one who is not a racist could ever vote for the man.
4
@Disillusioned
Very good comment. I just want to expand a bit on your statement:
" In sections of this great nation children are taught to be racists by their parents, Sunday school teachers, pastors and teachers."
What is being "taught" (developed) is more generally Authoritarian psychology/personality. Racism is obviously an important element of that; it makes it very easy to see the world as us v them.
But the problem is that this personality trait is strong and immutable in a large part of the population. So Edsall's column is really correct in seeing it as a "hard problem".
It has very little to do with actual economic inequality, as study after study has shown. And it is a problem on the Left as well as the Right at this point.
So, I share your pessimism, but I think if we approach it as a longer-term project, progress is possible. In the short term, what matters is doing whatever is necessary to win.
Here's a values vs policy description - Bernie touts free university education for all. He doesn't offer policy perscriptives or has a record showing he (supports) values protecting and enhancing the lives of every child from pregnancy thru high school. Rather, he jumps to university because college students are old enough to vote. Nor does he offer policy that supports those who would not enjoy university but who would benefit from vocational training. Again, he ignores serious and very real sociatal ills that, done propertly, will do far more to redress the wrongs in this country. Where a candidate's energy, time, money goes speaks volumes about what they care about. Looking carefully at the long records of these candidates is essential if we want change in America to a fair and just society. Note changes in where the emphasis is as that is indiciative of changes in values - and might I add should happen as people gain experience. Cherrypicking incidents what a supporter or competitor wants to find is sloppy, and desperate. Seeing the whole reveals much more accurate and vital information.
1
for this country to remain competitive we have to do something about the cost of higher education. you're saying that Sanders cherrypicks for only certain societal measures, but nobody has a campaign that comes close to Sanders', including a wide array of support from people of all walks of life and backgrounds and ethnicity. hes also taking on the healthcare industry (which everyone in the country deserves), fossil fuel industry (which is making big bucks destroying the planet) and on and on. cherry picking is not the way I would describe it, he's looking out for the whole orchard and all of us. if we want to see this country flourish we've got to get over the fact that sometimes other people will benefit more directly than ourselves, and recognize that by lifting everyone up, we ARE lifting ourselves up too.
2
Bacon’s rebellion resulted in the division of white indentured servants and black slaves by providing the whites with a few pennies in wages and enslavement for life of the Blacks. “The ruling class responded by hardening the racial caste of slavery in an attempt to divide the two races from subsequent united uprisings with the passage of the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705.” “President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." Dividing labor is the method white capitalists exploit to foster race resentment and secure cheap labor. It explains the willingness of “third way” liberals to welcome policies that create institutional racism.
7
Trump’s rhetoric and policies are every bit as misogynist as they are racist. Yet whenever men discuss Trump’s problematic prejudices, there is a tendency to focus on race discrimination vs. sex discrimination, which is odd, since women are half of the electorate.
9
The only way that we are going to make America Free is if we learn to get along!
1
Thomas,
You just do not get it. Most people just do not get it.
The Country is split not into two tribes, but into two Paradigms of thought. One the one side you have people who use daily but reject the fruits of The Enlightenment --- Science, Facts, Reason and Logic. The other group holds those ideas of The Enlightenment.
With the ascendance of the first group politically, with Trump as president, the New Dark Age is at hand.
There is no way to compromise with people who are stuck in their Paradigm. Only a major crisis or a avalanche of inconsistencies in front of them can open them up to a new message and a new Paradigm.
The United States is not anywhere close to the kind of situation that create such a crisis in their minds.
Therefore their is only two ways this can end. Either we slide into an Authoritarian State where one Paradigm will by force make the other one bow or there will be a Civil War that remove the other Paradigm and establish a society "cleansed" of any other Paradigm.
There is no middle Paradigm of compromise left in the United States. That compromise died when the middle class manufacturing jobs were allowed to go to China in exchange for cheap goods in our stores. We made a pact with the Devil and now we are going to have to give up our soul or our lives in payment.
1
In recent democratic debates and commentary, by Ignoring the 1990 N.Y.C. 2,262 murders in one year with over 6000 people shot (last year 319 homicides) mostly in minority neighborhoods, resulting in a crisis of crime and disorder that threatened the very life of our city and brought on ‘stop and frisk’ and other aggressive crime fighting tactics (with some positive but unfortunate and significant negative results) gives Trumpsters a secret weapon called ‘political correctness’ and a barrier resulting in issues we can’t truly discuss or explain without pejorative terms.
3
Referring to individuals, no matter how personally bigoted, like Trump, really does not work because those who share those prejudices see themsleves as individually attacked. One must rather refer to racist policies.
1
Maybe a lot of Americans don't want their country changed beyond recognition by unlimited migration or immigration. Like what is happening in Europe.
14
trump is effective because it is easier to sell hate than it is to sell love or values. And now he has the whole republican party helping him. Hate is simple but values are complicated.
The other thing he sells is self pity and his supporters love to wallow in it. They all believe they are being treated unfairly even when they are in control.
9
Being an American is not an ethnic orientation but rather believing in 3 documents (and I wold add a fourth):
--The Declaration of Independence in which 'all men are created equal'
--The Constitution, including its facility to be amended, whose primary concern is how to prevent authoritarian demagoguery
--Lincoln's Gettysburg Address wherein he states 'that our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. '
--I would add Lincoln's Second Inaugural
1. Trump does not believe blacks and brown people are equal to whites
2. Trump is shredding the Constitution and is exactly the demagogue the Founding Fathers feared
3 & 4: If Trump does not buy into No.1 he will also reject Nos. 3 and 4.
Conclusion: Trump and the people who wildly follow him because he is their white supremacist leader, are not true Americans.
Studies show that there is a great overlap between evangelical whites and white nationalism - they in fact are hypocrites and do not really believe the teaching of a non-European man named Jesus.
You need to attack them on this.
3
Record low unemployment stats across ALL ethnic groups since Trump’s election.
If that is how Trump manifests his racism then I say: Let’s have more of it.
11
The strategy of too many Democrats is to use inflammatory political rhetoric to worsen racial divisiveness with the goal of increasing black voter turnout.
This damages all Americans, but especially black Americans.
Here is a "Clue" to reducing racial divisiveness.
Promise not to nominate the next Supreme Court justice based only on race and gender as opposed to Biden's statement that he will nominate a black woman only.
Stop the false claims that most white people are "white nationalists and supremacists" committed to maintaining their "whiteness" and "white privilege.
11
Trump panders to his base, no matter what. If his base was against racism, he would be, too. How to fight back? Vote him out of office.
5
@Panthiest Before an audience of lumberjacks, Trump would profess to hate trees.
“Patriotism”? “Respect for Tradition”? Sounds like cloaked white nationalism to me. Guess I am a black man obsessed with race. In my mind it’s me being astonished that so much of white America thinks day-to-day maintenance of American white racism should continue forever. Black people will never "just get over it."
Mr. Edsel, sometimes you speak negatively about “identity politics.” This is the debate on the left and the funny thing is, Bernie Sanders is alone in not putting for specific proposals that address 400 years of systematic oppression of black people living in America. The rest of the field is putting forth specific proposals. I am a moderate who resents anyone promising me pie in the sky, but the greater evil is to pretend that America’s race problem will miraculously heal itself. Trump’s racist base is not a critical mass, but today they are incurable.
The other debate we Dems are having is how do we win in November. Bernie has said we will have this huge turnout in November, mostly driven by young voters and that this new coalition will revolutionize America. This is a lie that has never happened. A bunch of old white guys run the federal government and always has. We win by taking the middle. This was Clinton and Obama.
Extreme white liberals take politics as a joke. They shout pie in the sky and after the election go back to their safe liberal bubbles and havens, leaving minorities to the real suffering under GOP control. This Liberal racism has to end.
4
Racism is basically a form of shallowness — a shallow perception that cannot see the truth in life. People who use it or trust it are copying others who judge books by the covers.
2
Good column and a very difficult problem.
I think one thing we need to repeatedly make explicit, similar to the progressive message that performed best, is that working class people of all races have many more values and interests in common than in conflict.
It’s the oldest trick in the book, divide and conquer. The richest class, including Trump and Congressional Republicans, divide the rest of us along racial lines so we fight each other rather than rightfully blaming them for wealth inequality and the lack of fair opportunity. His actually policy set has been pure GOP orthodoxy on behalf of the oligarch class - slash taxes on the rich and use the resulting deficits to justify eliminating our social safety net.
This is why I think Bernie Sanders, although not necessarily my cup of tea, is getting some traction across demographic lines. He is plainly pointing out that the vast swath of working people in America are enduring class warfare from the top, and we can only overcome it if united.
6
For too long, Democrats have permitted Republicans to define and monopolize the conservative values (patriotism, family and tradition) described by Edsall. In the process, the GOP has twisted those values into a set of negative principles that emphasize who we are not, instead of stressing who we are.
Trump's vision of patriotism narrows the definition of American to non-immigrant, non-ethnic minority, and non-Muslim. This approach promotes hostility because it focuses on alleged outsiders who threaten the national community, while implicitly rejecting the positive values that unite American society.
In like manner, Trump limits the concept of family by telling us what it is not. He implicitly excludes gay couples and single-parent households. Thus any emphasis on the critical values of love and mutual commitment give way before an artificial stress on sexual orientation and the number of parents.
Tradition fares no better in the hands of this intellectual troglodyte. The heritage he identifies with spurns religious and cultural pluralism in favor of an ill-defined "white" worldview best understood by what it is not.
Trump's flirtation with Russia, his contempt for any meaningful concept of family values, and his indifference to any people's cultural heritage, help explain his negative definition of these core principles. But they also provide an opening for Democrats to expose the hollow nature of his promise to restore American greatness.
1
Bernie not only has a clue, he has always BEAT Trump's racism in 2016 by leading him much more than Hillary in the 2016 polls, beating him among white workers in the Rust Belt exit polls that year, and leading him in virtually all polls right now. Bernie's simple FDR plan for cutting the Gordian knot or racism in our politics is to focus relentlessly on class instead, aggressively seeking to unite ALL races among the lower classes of America to fight their real enemies--not in some other race, but in the oligarchs who've controlled both parties for decades. There's a reason Bernie is well ahead of Trump in Michigan right now, and will beat him like a drum, to borrow hapless Joe Biden's phrase, in the fall.
3
its alarming how many liberal pundits seem not to have followed the storyline before trump was elected. after all the reaction to obama like the birth certificate conspiracy trump "unleashed" racism, for the first time, in the United states. you'd think edsall is old enough to remember nixon, dirty harry, and the great white flight and Lee atwaters quote about the southern strategy. all of those campus outrage stories from 2015 that seem so quaint now, he "regressive left" accusing people of crypto racism. yes where could it possibly have come from?
5
While liberals pursue their chimeric agenda, Trump is appearing in black churches touting his economy, and the success black blue-collar workers have had in finding jobs - due to less competition from illegal immigrants.
He doesn't need to persuade every black man and woman to vote for him, or even a majority. All he has to do is get 20-30%, and the Dems are toast.
With Hispanics, many voters who spent years emigrating legally and getting citizenship are not as keen on illegal immigration as you might think. Moreover, those who fled Castro or Maduro are nearly certain not to be voting for Bernie Sanders.
So if Trump gets 20% of the black vote, and 45% of the Hispanic vote, what will the Democrats say then? The Russian thing is only credible for a limited period.
20
How is he a racist? This is all left wing bull. I think you guys should start thinking about socialized medical care like the rest of the world
6
@george lange Medicare and Medicaid comes to mind.
Maybe we can convince trump to start selling “make racism great again” hats.
When enough people see them and see who is wearing them, they will hopefully feel so disgusted they will vote for his opponent.
Can you imagine that some people - the racially conservative ones you mention - would actually go out and buy them?
3
No kidding. How much grant money funded these studies that only state the blindingly obvious and truly do not go far enough. The papers sidestep the fact -- the fact -- that our President has encouraged acts of violent racism. All the talk in the world is not going put the lid back on the Pandora's box of unacceptable behavior that the President is underwriting.
3
I voted for Trump because of his views and action on immigration and I will do so again.
I do not accept the efforts of the Democrats to have Open Borders and try to change the Demographics of America. If it was up to them no one would ever get deported.
Frankly I want to see deportations increased and we must find a way to end birth right citizenship which only makes the matters worse. Also we must do more to prevent visa overstays -- we should require a large deposit which will only be refunded when the visa holder leaves the country.
19
"success in exploiting race and a host of ancillary issues — crime, welfare,.."
The Edsall-like solution is to label white folks who push back against the Democrats as "embittered".
It was a weaponized judiciary that unleashed busing on the Detroit Public Schools in 1972.
Judge Roth wrote in part: “Transportation of kindergarten children for upwards of 45 minutes, one way, does not appear unreasonable, harmful, or unsafe in any way. ...kindergarten children should be included in the final plan of desegregation.” This was a weaponized judiciary aimed at working class folks by liberal Feds who for the most part had no skin in the game. Fortunately the cross-district scheme was reversed by the SCOTUS. Unfortunately Detroit Public Schools were still forced to implement busing with a white student population of 26%. Each school was forced to reflect this demographic. Working class folks with little of financial cushion saw their homes become essentially worthless due to the destruction of the DPS. These were working class folks who were hurt by Judge Roth while he trampled out the vintage where the grapes of wrath were stored. In the 1972 Democratic Primary the only candidate to speak out against the order was George Wallace who won the primary.
Can't wait to see what the next round of social justice brings. Then comes Bernie from a state that has about a 1.5% Black population, lecturing the folks in flyover country how to get along with their neighbors. What a joke.
6
@Jp
I was in Elementary School in the 70's when the edict came down that our lower middle class neighborhood would be bussed an hour into a crime ridden neighborhood in the city to integrate the mostly black schools there. When the whites in our neighborhood complained, we were publicly castigated as racist. When our black neighbors complained they were quietly told to apply for a transfer to a different school (all of which were granted). That and the fact that the people calling us "racist" lived in neighborhoods and went to schools that were almost entirely white, were clear beacons of limousine liberal hypocrisy.
1
@I want another option :
When my family moved out of our near east side neighborhood all the the white liberals had long since moved on to safer environs.
When we moved out is was almost as if we could hear these white liberals crying out: "Look, white fligh! That's the cause of all our racial problems!"
Bernie: You will hear more about this during your campaign.
Perhaps you could share three initiatives that former President Obama did in this area to abate racism. I asked this question because I cannot in reflecting on his 8 years in office.
8
Report on every last bit of it.
1
Sanders has been fighting racism all his life. He has the most diverse movement behind him and his official campaign reps who are non-hite females have faced racist slander by TV pundits even as some gear up to label him antiSemetic for daring to have a more realistic view on Israel. With the exception of Sen Warren, every other candidate has the taint of racism in their background and in the policies they have promoted.
1
The democrats could start by not saying they want to decriminalize illegal entry and give illegals free health care. Also, it doesn’t make you a “xenophobic racist” if you think our immigration and asylum laws should be updated to reflect a world 7.8 billion people, 330 million Americans and worsening climate change that is directly affected by those two numbers. You can be compassionate and committed to helping poor, unhappy people around the world and not agree that moving millions of them here is a good idea for this country and the planet. If the democrats really care about the future of this country and the planet (and making real progress on climate change) and aren’t simply interested in importing their “permanent majority” voting block they would support lowering our population here and around the world, not just moving millions more here. As it is, they are forcing environmentalists to choose between their mass immigration agenda and making progress on climate change and the environmental problems we face here. You cannot be for both.
18
So long as people like Mr. Edsall insist that wanting to control our borders and enforce our immigration law amounts to "racism" they will never get my support and the support of the majority of Americans.
19
“Trump has fanned the anger of many white supporters convinced that post-1970 federal policies have unjustly favored people of color.”
I watched the Democratic debate last night and every single one of them called for specifically race-based handouts for African Americans: reparations for slavery, billions (!!!) for black colleges, reparations for redlining, free money to help buy homes, and more.
None of these policies were color-blind, they all favored people of color.
11
Trump is not a racist and neither are 99+% of his supporters. From his words about the events of Charlottesville to his deep concerns over immigration, there is no racism present. Americans of every color go out into the world each day and interact in a friendly, respectful was with others who are unlike them in many ways. That is the reality. But go ahead and fight against the straw man you have created in your provincial, far left enclaves. It means you will leave the real man to win in 2020.
18
I find it laughable that those who treat minorities as children have the gall to accuse President Trump of racism. Charging "racism" to anyone who dares actually treat minorities as living, breathing adults - as President Trump does - has become cliche and needs to be stopped. This writer in fact comes off as racist for feeling and expressing his superiority and then cheapening the term "racist" with irresponsible charges to this President who's actions have been the opposite.
14
Nobody wants to stand on the bottom rung of the ladder.
Generations of white males assumed they were the leadership class and devised social (educational opportunities, family obligations, housing patterns) and economic (job categories, pay scales) ways to preserve their status and govern all other groups beneath them. In America, that began to change with Emancipation in 1865, Indian conquests, spare land, waves of immigration, and Woman Suffrage followed by extreme capitalism protected by tax reform. Our politics and values are now sharply divided between liberal diversity and old-fashioned white supremacy, the richer the better.
3
@Fran B.
Sounds like you're speaking from your personal experience with feelings of superiority. My family belongs to a mostly rural community in a "flyover state", 3 generations removed from German peasants who came here at the turn of the century.
So I'm curious how you imagine these destitute people managed to acquire an entitlement to status and power that never belonged to them in the first place. If my grandparents and parents somehow transformed into vain aristocrats while working full time at blue and lower end white collar jobs, they managed to hide it well. I never once got the impression they believed they should be in charge and better treated than anybody else.
Rather, they wanted to be left alone.
At our cores, we are emotionally driven beings. Pushing past inherent differences is challenging for way too many people. Fox News has made many billions by never underestimating the power of "fear of the other". In a modern civilized society where basic needs are met (mostly), it is the only thing that uninformed, uneducated people have.
Voters are simply not as "smart" as many politicians claim. It will always be that people vote viscerally, not logically. We have centuries of history that prove it.
4
Excellent research, as always. I would like to see a shaming approach used, however, along with a reminder of the severe economic and budgetary impacts of restricting immigration.
Racists and anti-immigrant folks need to be reminded that their views are un-American (see the Statue of Liberty) and if acted upon are illegal, no matter what Trump says. Trump’s statements on race would get him fired from any U.S. company.
Further, the economic and budgetary consequences are severe from restricting immigration, as economist Austin Goolsbee pointed out in the NYT last year. Immigrants boost innovation (productivity) by starting new companies and fill open jobs (we have 7 million currently), boosting GDP and thus all of our incomes. If we don’t bring in more young workers, social security and Medicare require higher taxes to maintain.
If we continue to restrict legal immigrants to 200,000 per year instead of the pre-Trump 1 million, the loss of GDP (income) is about $1 trillion over a decade, or about $8,000 per family. That excludes the extra taxes we pay for Social Security and Medicare, since there are fewer workers per retiree.
4
If Democrats focus on immigration- especially protecting the undocumented or what many Americans call illegal immigrants, Trump wins and he knows it.
If Democrats fail to understand how complicated race issues are, then the simplistic racist vocabulary of demagogues win.
The problem with the extreme socio-economic racial divide in this country is that the white beneficiaries really don't want to give up their advantages and that includes many white liberals.
We've already enacted most of the low-budget methods of reducing the extreme racial disparity of wealth in this country. What is needed is a substantial and focused monetary investment in education to assure that children of all races born into poverty don't fall behind academically as a result of their place of birth.
It requires a commitment to and focus on genuine outcomes and not short-term gestures of appeasement and it takes years of success for such an investment to begin paying economic dividends.
This column focuses on the generally more superficial aspects of racism. I believe that most brown and black Americans are more concerned about economic racism than what Trump's followers call them. I also believe that solving the economics of racism will help solve the psychology of it and that you can't have one without the other.
4
Agreed, well put. I would add that every school in every state and city should have an actual medical doctor on staff, on site, every day. This could be achieved through a Teach for America sort of program. Health care, early and often, is in itself both a boost to growth and well being and a signal to children that someone out here cares whether they thrive in school or not. Every school, in every state and city should be a place where any parent, anywhere, would feel good about having their child attend.
2
Nearly forty years ago, I knew an African-American fireman.
He asked me for my advice about a situation at work. A fellow fireman--white--and he were close. Over the years the white fireman had observed that my friend and his black co-workers would use the n-word towards each other and the white frreman began using it as well. Over time my friend said it didn't sit right with him but he did not know how to address the issue with the white fireman. My friend was an advanced black belt in Karate so fear was not an issue.
I said that he should explain that times changed and he believed that no one should use the word because it was a reminder of harsh times in American history and racial hate.
He also said this to the black firemen. All agreed to stop. Having the black belt may have enhanced the persuasion.
4
He won because of tv. A walking ,talking 247 talking head that used tv advertising principles to create demand than feed it. Anyone listening? He did not stand on any principle. Bannon was his coach, probably still is.
3
@Randall Brown True, but unless the audience is receptive the methods you correctly noted would all be empty noise. I've said before in various comments that America has changed fundamentally and it's that "critical mass of whites" Mr Edsall refers to in the last paragraph that acts like the host to a virus to use a medical analogy. The critical mass is solidly Republican but includes a wide swathe of voters who call themselves Independents and Democrats.
Mr. Edsall mistakenly conflates immigration policy reforms with racism.
Many Americans do not believe in open borders; understand that the US, as a welfare state, cannot have both unlimited immigration and budget discipline (it's analytically impossible); support targeting the country's assistance budget to those who are already legally here; worry about the downward effect of additional supply of low-cost labor via bursts of immigration; and believe that in today's economy, when we open our nation to additional immigration there should be merit standards to invite those most likely to contribute to economic growth and least likely to become public charges.
These are good faith policy beliefs. They are color blind. People who hold these beliefs should not be falsely tarred with the "racist" label.
94
@Stuck on a mountain There is no conflation. Look at the world map and tell me which countries have been the targets of the immigration polices? Go back and read the tweets and the statements by the various officials who craft the policies.
19
@Stuck on a mountain . I didn't see one trace of the writer proposing Open Borders. What I did read was an article discussing bigotry and racial resentment. A more correct reply from you might be to acknowledge this as undeniably true in the USA and politically boosted by the GOP. Of course as the Republican party is an almost white-only party, citing an objection to open borders to charges of institutional racism is not unusual. But it's intellectually dishonest. Linking trillion dollar deficits to undocumented workers is absurd
On a different subject if you want a serious policy proposal for undocumented workers then consider fining employers.
And if you are concerned about deficits vote against politicians who grant huge tax cuts to wealthy corporations and billionaires.
40
@Stuck on a mountain, "budget discipline", hmm? Undocumented immigrants aren't eligible for welfare or most other government assistance programs, but even if they were it would cost less than targeting and detaining them, not to mention building a wall that doesn't solve the problem. It's clear as day that Republicans have no interest in fiscal discipline.
32
Maybe a moratorium on attacks on Trump?
The coronavirus threat is a real one and Trump seems to be doing something to address it. It is better if the Democrats work with him to address the threat.
Things are different about the climate. Trump seems quite unconcerned about that other big threat although he did sign on to the trillion trees project.
But a house divided cannot stand and the Democrats have a lot to do with why the house is divided. Why not stop with the attacks on Trump for the time being, put up a strong candidate and promote him/her?
I watched much of the Democratic debate and while I did not like the format I thought that the candidates themselves did quite well. Warren seemed to me to be the best debater but the others were not bad at all.
Let America come together to work on its problems and let the Democrats accept responsibility for their contribution to why we are so divided. Trump is undeniably a rude and annoying man but he will stay that way, and attacks on him make him more rude and more annoying. Democrats, let go of your enmity! It is getting boring to those of us who are not partisan but care about the country and the world.
6
@Ludwig: Your post was off to a good start, a good theme, but then you had to go and personally attack the President as "rude and annoying," which negated the theme entirely.
1
@johnlo But Trump IS rude. There was no need to refer to Bloomberg as little. There was no need to refer to Biden as "SleepyCreepy Joe."But the Democrats have taken advantage of his rudeness to pretend that there is nothing good about him. And that pretense prevents them for working with him for the good of the nation.
For instance Trump wants a certain amount of money for the coronavirus and Schumer has proposed much more. Let them talk and come to a reasonable figure, preferably without insulting each other.
The good news is that they are BOTH proposing something in the same direction. Let us work with that!
1
@johnlo
Have you been living in a box for the last 40 years? Trump is "rude and annoying." He has been for decades. That's what a lot of his followers love about him, more than anything else.
1
Societies make the mistake of thinking humans evolve in a single generation it takes much longer. And constant work to make it sure it sticks.
2
The "race-focused student activists" referenced in this article seem to care less about winning elections than about winning specific policies, or even gestures of respect... and that's not bad in itself. They see their project as decoupled from the election cycle, and they're focusing on their highest priorities.
However, that makes them an interest group, rather than anyone's political base. The Race-Class Project seems to have the right idea: I can't think of a single national politician who has achieved institutional power by calling out his/her opponents as racists. Not one. It's toxic behavior in the national political arena.
These student activists will never be satisfied; their self-appointed role is to protest. They're never going to come fully into the fold, and the electoral collateral damage from pandering to them is too great
6
The Republicans have done a great job shifting the focus of the white working class away from the policies that are hurting them and instead blaming immigrants and minorities. That’s why we can’t have a socialism such as exist in Norway and other similar countries. Unfortunately, people are willing to suffer themselves just to keep the “others” from enjoying the benefits of a wealthy country. It’s not logical that people should be like that, but what can you expect from a society that has a huge majority of its citizens believing in mythologies that lack any proof whatsoever. When the people don’t believe in reason, they are unreasonable and that is a big problem.
4
@Tim Phillips : Norway funds its "socialism" with TRILLIONS and trillions every year in NORTH SEA OIL revenues.
Thomas, excellent question.
However, I think a more accurate, relative to American reality is:
"Does Anyone Have a Clue How to Fight Back Against the Racism That Americans Have and Wholeheartedly Support in Donald Trump's Reflection of Said Racism".
Because, Donald Trump is not a Source. He is a Reflection.
A Reflection of profound, fundamental racism in Americans who have found a home base to stand on embodied in Donald Trump.
The Source that Donald Trump is drawing from is not inside himself.
That Source is inside of us Americans.
6
“Has the left wing of the party become so discouraged, so defensive — and so embattled — that it now perceives a critical mass of whites as intractably hardened and unswervingly opposed to minority interests? If moderates and progressives are locked in on either side of such a chasm, what will it take to make peace?”
Well, here’s a thought. Stop accusing individuals who disagree with a particular position as “racist”. It’s offensive and does nothing to heal the divides that plague America. The vast majority of Americans, I believe, are not racist. Poor and disadvantaged white people have much more in common with poor and disadvantaged people of color. Politicians who recognize this have a much better chance of building coalitions than those that seek to divide. We are in the throes of class warfare, not race warfare. We have come to the place and time in America where most of us understand that we must all be allowed to progress together. Leaving certain constituents behind hinders the progress of all. We either sink or swim together. Politicians that understand this dichotomy will win the hearts and minds of American voters.
11
@Jake Well said. Labeling every speech or behavior we disagree with as "racism" is an obstacle to rational thought. Instead of examining the blows taken by the working class in the 90s, we focus on their "racial resentment." If someone hurries away from a coughing person in Chinatown, we say they are "racist." It's time for pundits to abandon simplistic semantics that are counterproductive. Edsall used to be more astute than that. Remember what happened to Hillary Clinton's prospects when she fell into nasty labeling?
3
How about if the Democrats fight back by pointing out that it has been the result of republican policy during republican administrations that the world has become destabilized. The republicans, under George Bush destabilized the whole Middle East resulting in the mass migrations from Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, as well as resulting in the birth and rise of ISIS. Under George H. W. Bush Al Queda became a new power. It was under Ronald Reagan that Central America became destabilized. The Republicans are great as causing the forever wars and running up deficits. They then quickly point the fingers at the democrats when their policies fall apart and ruin the economy.
4
Liberals absolutely should have made enforcement of immigration laws a high priority. It is the law after all, but conservatives have to be honest and admit they have completely quit working with liberals in any way so it's unlikely they would have allowed liberals to do anything. That's a huge problem. For this to work, we have to quit cutting off our nose to spite our face and allow our foes to be successful when it makes sense.
The conservative patriotism stuff is off putting because its so rabidly symbolic without much deeper understanding. Patriotism is way more complicated than loyalty and tradition, just like sexuality is way more complicated than heterosexuality. That's the truth and you can try to suppress it, but just because you don't like it doesn't make it not true.
True patriotism is celebrating paying taxes for the overall benefit of our country. True patriotism is supporting a voting day being a national holiday and getting as many people as we can to be constantly engage in politics...regardless of outcome. True patriotism is welcoming dissent in order to keep the system honest. True patriotism is respecting others not because they are like us, but because we are all so different. We don't blare our music or lead with our religion because we respect others preferences.
2
We need to finally realize that the USA IS a racist nation. We were built by slave labor and to this day white privilege is the law of the land.
Trump proved to us that polling is not the way to get honest answers to difficult questions. Just as many eventual Trump voters would not admit their position to pollsters, I suspect the same of the many white's who would not admit their darkest beliefs to a poll. Each generation is slightly better at acceptance than their parents, however, the issue may never disappear as long as we have demagogues who can exploit prejudice for a political advantage.
2
@bobbybow
Please provide specifics on how white privilege is the law of the land.
@Max Stop and frisk; police profiling;Red lining; defunding of public schools; hurdles for voting rights; gerrymandering - want more?
Those issues are losers for Democrats as far as beating Trump is concerned and they should ignore them. There is no formula, no matter how much sociology one wishes to cite, for presenting traditional election issues that will make a difference. The election, in the few states that matter, will be a referendum on Trump.
1
Just a comment on the immigration issue: When conservatives pass legislation going after employers hiring illegal immigrants, I'll believe immigration is a real issue. Until then, it is just another narrative/lie to avoid the real reason.
If immigration is the threat that conservatives claim, then hiring illegal immigrants should be a death penalty offense for a business. The fact that it is not; in fact, just the opposite; tells you everything you need to know. The fact that no conservative anywhere has complained about the president's long use of illegal immigrants screams the truth.
And anyone saying Democrats/liberals/progressives want open borders is grotesque.
No conservative-controlled society can survive long term as a decent place. They always revert to various forms of barbarism.
7
Every time I read one of these columns I get depressed. It makes me accept the realization that, at this point, it looks like Trump will probably win the election. It is not only because I live here in Trump country, but because I read the comments to these and other columns, comments from people all over the U.S. and the world.The threads of racism and bigotry are strong threads that rum through the warp and woof of our society strengthened by the natural inclination towards tribalism in the human animal. I'm afraid we're toast. Butter, anyone?
1
"We find that exposure to racially inflammatory statements by Trump caused those with high levels of prejudice to be more likely to perceive engagement in prejudiced behavior as socially acceptable."
And in other news, 1 + 1 = 2.
Wow, why even bother to hold the Nobel prize vote this year? Just pack up the award and the check and Fedex it to them right now.
But seriously, haters gonna hate. You can frame public policy in any way you want and these people are still going to identify with Trump and the GOP.
How can you meaningfully engage and potentially persuade people who would rather vote for Trump than for somebody who wants to provide universal health care to them?
It's a waste of time. There's a reason why this playbook continues to work. Rational appeals to irrational minds will never succeed, no matter how clever.
1
Racism, sexism, etc. in the age of Trump?
America is incoherent when it comes to these problems. Here is the human fact: No person or group of people is identical to any other person or group of people; every person and all the groups forming and dissolving have their own quality and trajectory in time and space. This is easily grasped by observing qualities of players and changes of membership in music groups or sports teams.
But human beings seem incapable of coordinating all the human differences to a worthwhile degree not to mention for a sustained length of time and generally choose either of two courses instead which for all their difference achieve same result: Annihilation of difference. First you have individuals or groups dealing with difference by trying to crush other individuals or groups. This is generally called hatred, racism. But then you have the other form of annihilation of difference where you maintain that everybody is the same and try to crush everybody together and accuse people of racism even if they only point out differences between people and are not given to hatred of others, actual and true racism.
Which is to say the main problem is how to intelligently coordinate actual differences between people and the arguments surrounding race, sex and their expression in the two broad and extreme solutions of Naziism (select race) and Communism (radical equality) are too short-sighted, inadequate, and doomed in the long run to failure.
The president has gone beyond the simple exploitation of racial fear and hatred. He is, insidiously and effectively, brainwashing a large segment of the American public by using the counterintuitive technique of presenting himself as blatantly obnoxious, inhumane, xenophobic and cruel.
His behavior, by constantly challenging the limits of decency, normalizes and reinforces his own negative traits in his followers. It also allows him to discredit the voices of opposition, claiming that their objections are motivated by personal animosity and envy, rather than substantive disagreements with his ideas or policies.
Rather than making America great again, the president is working hard to remake America in his own image: aggressive unprincipled, undemocratic, narrow-minded and cruel.
Day by day it's getting harder to deny that our country is no longer "the shining city on a hill", but just another oppressive, authoritarian, single party "democracy" where the rule of law has been thrown to the wolves of predatory capitalism and institutionalized corruption.
3
A recent Gallup poll found that 40% of Americans believe that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. Is it therefore a stretch to believe that 35% of all whites harbor xenophobic and racist beliefs? Trump openly plays favor with those who subscribe to these beliefs.
Academician Carol Anderson and author of “White Rage” wrote that, “The GOP’s membership is nearly 90 percent white and can only envision carnage and extinction as it looks upon a rights-based, religious, racial and ideologically diverse America. Or, as Lindsey Graham had noted as early as 2012, “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”
The success of the far right billionaires to bankroll and accelerate propaganda delivered by mass and social media is really a major driver of increasing ignorance and closed mindedness among whites. They purchase key search words that lead the uninformed to dozens of links for slickly produced propaganda mill web sites that refute earth science and scientific evolution.
It’s only an additional click of a hyperlink to other sites that promote social Darwinism, white supremacy and the “Bell Curve” meme that continues to survive because it is covertly supported by rich elites, who themselves subscribe to it.
Please stop wasting time trying to “convert” people who embrace ignorant beliefs. We need to bolster the positive good will of the 60 to 70% who embrace critical thinking.
2
Racism and bigotry can never be defeated. Our country was founded on them and they have always been part of us, BUT we can improve the situation, just not via the political process. The progress that has been made has largely come from the non-political arena. We have done better just by treating each other better down here in the rank and file. Remember when it was such a big deal because a black woman got the lead on the TV show, or because a black man got on a major league baseball team, or Captain Kirk kissed Lt. Uhuru? Most young people don't and would scratch their heads at our old foolishness because we have changed from that level of severity. We did it mostly not by government fiat but because we treated each other better. Give things like EOEC and the Civil Rights Act their do, but the work is getting done down here person to person. We can't count on leadership of any kind from this administration - we have to continue to do this work down here in the real world.
41
@Brookhaw
I agree, and I give a lot of credit to our Millennials. Each generation of kids after the Boomers got better and better, but they really took the ball and ran with it. Interracial marriages don't even cause people to look twice anymore, nor do openly LGBTQT people, unless you're in a conservative environment. Kids are our biggest hope, because they in turn raise kids to keep the cause going. They refuse to be told whom they can and cannot be friends with, sleep with, or have children with.
Laws make things happen but they obviously don't alwasy change people's worldviews for the better.
6
@Brookhawk - What we really need is for blacks to get better education and better jobs, and advance themselves into the middle and upper middle classes. If this happened, our problems would melt away.
Things are not as bad as many people think. Of the households in the 9th decile, earning $116-167K, 10% are black. Even in the 10th decile, over $167K, 6% are black.
But as everyone knows, it's the people at the bottom of the income scale who need help. Sending black teenagers from wealthy families to Yale and Harvard is not going to cut it, although it makes for good window dressing.
2
Crude bigotry of the Wardlow variety should be easy to oppose. Just do it. The problem for the Dems is that progressive demands for maximalist approaches alienates the sober law and order types. Calling Canada's strict immigration policy "racist" when some want to apply it here only casts the entire progressive project in a bad light.
35
@Blair Calling racist policing "law-and-order" (a phenomenon that started with Richard Nixon) is part of the problem. What sober "law-and-order" types mean when they say "law-and-order" is rounding up every black and brown man in America and putting them into prisons, on the false theory that white people aren't committing crimes.
3
@Dave That's sometimes true, yes, and it's also true that Nixon worked the concept in '68 (although he didn't originate it.) But my larger point remains: attacking every single line of criminal code or immigration policy isn't helping the cause.
3
the missing data? Trump supporters think there is no bigotry or racism.
1
I think this is one of your most important columns. Framing has been shown to be the most important factor in political disputes. As your examples amplify, framing an issue based on shared values is very effective. Progressives need to pursue this strategy in a host of areas ranging from race and class to climate change.
1
Well, for starters, you might drop your insistence that Trump voters need to be coddled and brought over, while African American, Latino and poor voters can be safely ignored. I sometimes suspect that your choice to do so is not so much in spite of your attitude toward African Americans etc. but because of it.
4
In no way do politicians and their sycophants playing race cards move our country towards a better future. Or a less dire future.
We’re digging a deeper hole that eventually we can’t get out of. Yes, there are moral arguments but there’s the pragmatic argument... we’re destroying ourselves.
2
Here's an idea-- nominate someone who can beat him in November. End of story.
3
Racism is the driving force for Trump's base.
It started with the Tea Party movement whose anger was fueled by the presence of a Black family in the White House. The Koch brothers seized this insurgency and funded it. In reality the Tea Party members in Congress did more harm to the Republicans than they did to Obama.
McCain and Romney did not satisfy this segment of the population but Trump did and the rest is history.
Trump vocalized publicly what they had been saying to each other privately. And his behavior gave them the freedom to act out in public also.
I fear nothing is going to change the attitudes and mind set of that 30% of our population but we can remove Trump from the bully pulpit and make racist actions and discourse no longer acceptable.
4
Trump's racism is so stark and so transparent I don't think the Democratic nominee has to focus on it. Voters will either condone or support the racism or be revolted by it. When looking at Trump supporters at his rallies I wonder if any of them disagree with his xenophobia and race-baiting diatribes. I am optimistic that a sufficient number of persons who voted for Trump in 2016 regret it now that his racism is beyond doubt and will take action in the voting booth to prevent four more years of this dangerous presidency.
It’s discouraging to see repeated focus on the racism of Trump without also acknowledging his misogyny.
2
"the long history of Republican success in exploiting race" - The democrats are just as guilty. In the past 20 years I've seen them increasingly try to get put everyone into separate but aggrieved victim groups, separated by race, sex, ethnicity, gender, etc. How about we're just plain Americans?
9
Social programs since the 1970s have indeed been focused on minorities, particularly, African-Americans. For folks who think this is unfair and therefore support Republicans, please try to understand that there were very good reasons behind these programs.
When you enslave a significant portion of your population for 250 years, then segregate and marginalize it for another 100, its going to need a lot of help and its going to take time. You don't undo 350 years of discrimination in 10 or 20 years. Nor do you quickly undo the psychic damage of portraying African-Americans as inferior to white people.
And I don't want to hear about poor, white folks in Appalachia having identical problems. They categorically don't. Those folks can put on a suit, buy a new pair of shoes, and walk into any bank, corporate office, or tony store in this country and not immediately be viewed with suspicion...simply because of the color of their skin. That is a tremendous built-in advantage.
5
All he has is a cell phone and a megaphone called FIX News.
If he is "winning" it's mainly because many of us still holding to Michelle Obama timid losing dogma" when they go low, we go high".
Q we need to ask ourselves is: why not a single Dem running to replace him hired a team of sharp competent tech nerds to go after him 24/7 on social media where he lives?
He has a 1000-mile long shameful history.
They should have a Trump Daily Special Fiesta.
Every day expose at least 10 from his rap sheet and keep hammering him.
4
If you want a racially just future, you have to articulate a vision of justice that includes everyone. It rarely even occurs to Democrats to do so.
7
As far as I am concerned Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States, is not a racist. What liberals perceive as "racism," especially towards Muslims, is his effort to protect America from terrorism. Besides, how can that be racism? Islam is a religion not a race. Therefore the criticism does not hold water; it is an empty argument.
As for African-Americans, what has he done to restrict their civil rights? In the 1960s and 1970s, he and his father allegedly discriminated against African Americans in renting to them, but as president what has he done? He has not done away with Affirmative Action nor reconstituted Jim Crow policies across the nation, which at the time were worse in the North than in the South.
If this comment gets published, the replies I will receive if any will attack my use of CSA as my location because the liberals can not pose a rational and logical argument against my thesis. They will have to resort to ad hominem attack, because that's what they have been taught today in so-called elite institutions of higher learning.
At any rate, I support the President. I support Trump, look forward to his re-election, and wish that he could be re-elected over and over again because there has never been a better time than now to be an American and it must continue. Thank you.
9
@Southern Boy His own people, the New Yorkers', voted against him in the last election. Does that tell you anything about 'who should know' a candidate?
1
“Has the left wing of the party become so discouraged, so defensive — and so embattled — that it now perceives a critical mass of whites as intractably hardened and unswervingly opposed to minority interests?”
Not clear who you are talking about on the left-wing - certainly not Bernie.
1
How to win? Tom Friedman had a great suggestion, join together as a team of rivals and let the public choose the president and a team incorporating everyone.
Stop sniping at each other. If the public doesn't like YOU then YOU shouldn't win, especially if you've worked hard to tear down others.
3
Those who overtly attack the bigotry and racism inherent in todays right wing (and sadly, GOP) politics - being fronted by Trump expressly, but having long been used by dog-whistles from the GOP, are themselves attacked by the stock response line calling them "haters" - from the GOP politicos themselves, to FOX and their myriad pundits. Liberals tend to shy away from the use of that term, so immediately become defensive - which is the strength and simplicity of the right's response. Seemingly a Catch 22.
But those who want to challenge racism have to own that they hate racism - not necessarily the people who are being racists, but the racism itself. And the damage it inflicts.
Don't be deterred or thrown off the attack by those and the right immediately playing the victim card. When they claim that you are being a "hater" and that they are "American" or professing "family values" simply state that they are wrong, and wrong to continue with the bigotry and racism.
At one time, turning over the rock would send the racist scrambling. But Trump turned over the rock and embraced what he found there - indeed from well before his candidacy. This simply needs to continue to be called out; keep shining that light on what he and his cohorts are doing and saying, and pointing out what it is and why it is not ok. Trump's attempts to use propaganda and a bully pulpit to normalize bigotry must fail.
"Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism?"
Sure. Punish him for it. Use it to turn Texas blue. That would be a lesson Republicans would not forget.
2
"What will it take to make peace" ? Easy stop using peoples color as the benchmark to receiving HELP. Why do social liberals feel the need to portray people of color, what ever color as the only ones who need HELP. Yes they have been marginalized and yes they do need HELP but so do whites, so when a bill is written it should never use a persons ethnic background but they're economic background. That is the way to include all Americans. The democrats do not do themselves any favors by highlighting peoples color instead highlight the economic situation that all poverty stricken families have. It isn't just minorities that are suffering. Because when you use a minorites status as the way to get said help you automatically alienate all others. That is not seen as fair and it is not fair no matter how bad a minorities situation is because whites have the same problems just not as many. Haney Lopez thinks liberal whites are to blame but the people who voted for trump that use to vote democrats see what I am talking about, they see minorities going to the front of the line just because they are a minority not because of they're needs. That is the real problem! To talk about reparations for something that happened 150 years ago and ask people who had nothing to do with to pay for it, is a problem. Why not HELP all people like the constitution provides. This is where the liberals lost, they did not loose by telling people to wait.
6
The historic democratic response has been to respond to racism with more racism. This drives people away from the party who otherwise want to vote democratic for a number of other reasons like the environment.
Harvard’s affirmative action program for example has been determined by the court to judge people on skin color awarding Asians and Whites fewer admission points. This is racist. Given that there are many causes and solutions to the college admissions problem of black underrepresentation, Democrats could adopt more race neutral policies but would lose the wedge issue approach to creating a captive minority voter base.
6
The subjects of this column are competing propaganda strategies. Call me naive, but regardless if I am a progressive, conservative, “persuadable,” or whatever, it creeps me out to think our politics are only a perception is reality problem for others to manipulate. Seems both Huxley and Orwell got it right.
“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”
“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
"Does Anyone Have a Clue About How to Fight Back Against Trump’s Racism?"
Or, how can we stop America from being great again? Is it just me, but, did anyone at the debate get close to saying they loved America, Americans and Americana?
4
Trump is only one racist. Racism in the south has never ended. The Civil War only made it stronger, and the federal government failed to help African Americans during Reconstruction. Perhaps it is time for a New Reconstruction, one that is enforced by the federal government against racists. Land, housing and job grants to African Americans, just like it was supposed to be after the war. This is only fair.
3
It is in the American “DNA”: since the founding of white America, race/white supremacy and gender/misogyny have been used to keep working class white men from understanding rich white men are the source of their exploitation. This is why it remains very difficult to create multiracial political movements for race and gender equity and social and economic justice. If working class white men figure this out, they support Sanders; if not, they support Trump.
6
"assault on liberal values"
No, there is an assault on Human Values. As long as we divide ourselves into Conservatives and Liberals, Us & Them, we will continue to have an "assault" situation.
Let's not be at war with each other. Let's guarantee freedoms that are recognized as Human Rights the world over: Shelter, food, clean water, personal safety and others. How we do this will take some compromise and not being rigid in our thinking, but inclusive and practical.
Human Rights is what we need to be talking about, not dividing ourselves into tribes.
9
@mouseone "Shelter, food, clean water, personal safety"
You do not mention "right to heath care" which, in America, amounts to "right to a blank check."
We spend more on Medicaid than we do on food stamps or on higher education. We need to be more rational about how we use our social spending.
We also need to control the greed of the health care industry. And we have to face up to the fact that physicians and hospitals are also among the culprits. So are our excessive malpractice awards. Let us cut down on health expenditures and use that money for education, food, infrastructure.
2
I think the best possible outcome here is that the Democratic Party destroys itself and gets replaced by something that actually works and actually represents the people, because the Democratic Party has demonstrated very clearly that it is no longer capable of fielding candidates who can win an election, but instead fields candidates who are happier fighting each other or indulging in ideological purity contests and virtue signalling, they are a party of Jeremy Corbyns god help them. The Democrats are going to allow Donald Trump another four years, the same way they allowed him his first term, it is time for them to go away, the American people deserve better.
19
@John Wallis Americans do deserve better than the nit picking infighting that is going on in the Democratic party right now, and that is fueled by the DNC's backward looking leadership. However, only the Democratic party (theoretically) espouses values that are necessary to keep a liberal democracy functioning. My suggestion is out with the old (Bernie, Biden) and in with the young and electable.
@AA I agree. With the exception of Obama and Kennedy (2 of the BEST), you’ve had a bunch of old men leading the nation. Why? I’m hoping you’ll go for an infusion of youth, vitality, and new ideas. Best wishes in finding the way to depose King Trump.
1
@John Wallis The problem is the Democrats have to invent issues to fight about in front of the American people and even the Liberals tune it out. Trump has accomplished almost everything he set out to do and the rising support of Black and Latino voters indicates they dont buy into this whole false narrative about Racism. The Democrats cant pretend they care about such issues anymore. Its obvious they need to manufacture problems and create problems and not solve them. I heard a lot of booing last night. That tells me that this self immolation by the Democrats is on track for November. Bloomberg is the only one who has chance and the Left is too hung up on labels and past transgressions to let allow him to speak for very long with taking out the Long Knives.
1
The electorate, the people that have a history of voting for President across the political spectrum, is just over 70 percent white.
Republicans have negligible support from black and hispanic voters, and those groups often under-represent in turnout for either party. The exceptions were two.
If a candidate spends 70 percent of their time speaking to 30 percent of the electorate, they will not win much. This is why Republicans prefer identity politics and campaigning - it forces Democrats to talk to 30 percent of the electorate.
The editorial more artfully demonstrates than I can say that language that appeals to more than the 30 percent is vital to winning.
But it also points out what Trump knows - if it appears that a candidate is succumbing to a pressure campaign from the 30 percent, he or she will be perceived as weak or prepared to sell out the 70 percent.
9
@Revoltingallday You couldnt be more wrong. Newsday:
The new Emerson poll puts Trump at 35 percent with black voters and 38 percent with Hispanics. “If you add in Asian voters at 28 percent approval,” notes Emerson’s director of polling Spencer Kimball, “our number is very close to the new Marist poll,” which finds Trump’s approval at 33 percent among non-white voters. A recent RasmussenReports poll has Trump support among black voters at 34 percent, and even the new CNN poll has Trump’s approval among non-white voters at 26 percent.
Why is losing black voters by a two-to-one margin something to shout about? Because if Donald Trump came anywhere close to those numbers on Election Day, he’d likely win a 50-state sweep. Minority voters — and black voters in particular — are an absolutely vital part of the Democratic base. And they don’t vote for Republicans, particularly for president.
1
There are several ways of promoting a progressive agenda and combating Trump's racism.
Start with the preamble to the US constitution. This government was created to "establish justice" and to "promote the general welfare."
Any Democrat running against Trump needs to come back to the language of our founding document over and over again.
It's then easy to argue that criminal justice reform is needed to "establish justice". These aren't programs favoring one race or another. This is simply being true to our founding values.
The arguments to "promote the general welfare" are even more compelling. The average citizen can see how corporations and corporate wealth have become the special favorites of government.
Serious social reform is necessary to level the playing field and bring the country back to this core value, "the general welfare," not the corporate welfare.
Single payer health care and a stronger social security system, better schools and the Green New Deal all spring from this very basic constitutional value enshrined in the preamble.
On the issue of race, people need to be reminded that in the shadow of Trump's inflammatory rhetoric hate crimes have gone up. Muslims, Latinos and Jews have all become targets.
The attacks against the synagogue in Pittsburg and the Walmart in El Paso were carried out by those who believed they were following Trump.
Trump's racism is not about what he thinks or believes, it's about the impact of what he does.
9
For the past several years -- if not decades-- the middle class has felt that it is on an economic treadmill, going backwards instead of forward. This is the first generation, in the history of our country, that the economic growth of the next generation does not exceed that of the former. Most sense that "something is indeed wrong" . Why do people now have to hold two jobs to support their families when it used to be that one was sufficient. Who is to blame for all of this misery? Instead of focusing on the real causes for such economic inequality, the conservative element of the Republican party say it is all the fault of "those other people who are not like us". In their way of thinking, it is all those migrants/immigrants who are taking all the good jobs away from the "real Americans", i.e., people like us. They are a burden on our society since hard working Americans are forced to pay more taxes to provide for their needs...... In reality, it is the wealthy and the abuses of capitalism -- not capitalism per se-- that are at the root of the problem. The reason Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have become so popular is that they have exposed the flaws of the current system and have proposed solutions.
6
@Phillip J. Baker "Most sense that "something is indeed wrong" . Why do people now have to hold two jobs to support their families when it used to be that one was sufficient. Who is to blame for all of this misery?"
You ask a good question and then put the blame on the shoulders of your favorite target, the Republicans.
While I do not agree with Republican policies, globalization, the rise of AI, the rise of China, millions of women entering the market place, have more to do with why one income is not enough any more.
1
@Phillip J. Baker This has been the text book wedge applied by the right wing for ages. Indeed, Hitler used that same playbook while leveraging economic frustrations and anger in 1930's Germany to redirect the focus on "the other" as the cause. The rich and super-rich pay big bucks to politicians and mouthpieces to shift the focus in exactly this manner in the US, and by and large have avoided scrutiny, while continuing to maintain an uneven playing field. Racism and bigotry play a big part in that propaganda, power and control.
Focussing on a positive message of mutual benefit may be the best strategy for liberals as a group, but individual office-seekers - particularly new entrants into the politicial process - may not find it helpful to their personal ambitions or self-images as social justice warriors.
If the Democratic Party and its donors - at levels from local to national - could unite around this approach and make campaign funds conditiional on using this rhetoric, then the research cited in this essay could have a powerful effect.
3
The example of Minnesota in the article and other comments on staying local in your campaign makes sense. What worked in Minnesota ( with a strong liberal tradition) probably wouldn’t work in Alabama.
Racial fairness may not win in Alabama but other issues like climate might. Even the tax cut that has caused huge deficits at a time of high employment might be useful for the Democrats. All people are worried about the future of their children.
Arguing Trump is wrong on race in some states is probably a losing bet. Sorry to have to say that.
6
The idea that "liberals have ceded to conservatives a monopoly on such themes and values as faith, family, country and law and order" has been central to Pete Buttigieg's campaign. He makes a point of highlighting his faith and military experience. And as predicted by the research in this article, he is finding it hard to get any minority or progressive support.
I wonder if it is possible for anyone to bridge this gap in the Democratic coalition.
10
@Bob The "themes and values" claimed by conservatives are an easy sell because they are shallow, undemanding versions of the real thing. "Faith" is talking about God while cheering an adulterer who cages children. "Family" is yelling about abortion while ignoring the needs of living children. "Country" is flag waving, while blindly accepting Fox propoganda without bothering to learn the facts, while "law and order" means cracking down on Those Other People. Maybe progressives are slower to respond because they understand that the real thing takes a lot of hard work. Or maybe they're busy trying to implement policies that actually reflect those values, instead of just giving lip service to them.
3
An excellent analysis. Edsall stands above the rest in the NYT opinion section for his consistently well researched and well cited contributions. In my humble opinion our society would benefit from more of this, regardless of POV. Many thanks.
9
@Aaron I was going to make a similar comment. It's just really great getting these "lit reviews" of academic research relevant to pressing political problems. It's a much needed alternative to pundits pumping out columns based on their own subjective takes on what politicians should be doing.
We're going to have a white Democratic candidate in the end, and only Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders seem to call for social justice seriously and do it without using identity politics.
16
@Just Thinkin’
White Supremacy is "identity politics".
1
Bernie Sanders for one is explicitly running on a way to fight back against the racism which has been a main tactic of Republicans - not just Trump - for many decades. This is to draw attention to economic matters and how the rich have been winning the class war and away from the racial grievances of white voters. It is not certain that this will work, at least in a time of relative prosperity which Trump can falsely claim is his work, but there have certainly been signs of growing economic dissatisfaction that were not visible when inequality had not developed as much. But a major problem is that many monetary supporters of the Democratic party, many owners of major media and writers and spokespersons in those media, and many Democratic politicians themselves, are not in favor of drastic economic change - they are doing fine the way things are. In other words the major media and Democratic political establishment generally promote a system of economic values that opposes changes that would be beneficial to all those at the lower parts of the economic spectrum, whatever their race.
11
@skeptonomist
The media is fooling themselves with this racial grievance argument. That is only a small part of racism in America.
As America gets more non-white it will become much more about us vs them. Plain old fashioned racism. No grievances needed.
@skeptonomist
If "racism" has been the main tactic of Republicans and "..many Democratic politicians themselves, are not in favor of drastic economic change - they are doing fine the way things are."
We can logically conclude by the transitive property that Democrats are either tacitly or ambiguously condoning Republican tactics which you describe as racist. That makes Democrats racist! Quod erat demonstrandum !!
"policies ... favored by racially conservative Americans but with a new focus on active white protection, rather than simply colorblind efforts to constrain positive governmental actions. "
That's an actual lie (not by Edsall). Trump has been very clear that he is for colorblind efforts to help ALL American citizens and not what the Democrats are for: specifically color-specific policies that actually HARM White and Asian people (as, for example, in Universities such as where I now sit.)
"Trump has fanned the anger of many white supporters convinced that post-1970 federal policies have unjustly favored people of color."
Well, yes, that's true ... because the root cause, "post-1970 federal policies have unjustly favored people of color" is absolutely true.
And everybody knowns that the Democrats want to make it worse. The clearly are not for "lifting all boats" but for specific policies that are for specific races and religions.
The only way to stop racism is for the Democrats to stop being racist. The onus is on them.
25
@Doug McDonald. If policies have sought to unfairly benefit people of color since the 1970s, they certainly haven’t been effective. From 1989-2016 average wealth amongst white Americans more than doubled from about $437K to $935K, while the figure for Black or African Americans rose only from $81K to $102K (about 25%). Now granted, the average figures are a bit skewed because rich white CEOs are included but, the same thing bears out for median wealth. Amongst White Americans median wealth rose over this same time frame from about $130K to $142K. That $12K rise in wealth is almost the total median wealth of Black or African Americans ($13k) at the end of that time period (2016). Median wealth for these individuals only grew about $6K over the 1989-2016 time period.
You can dig deeper into these statistics at the Center for American Progress (americanprogress.org)
6
@Doug McDonald
Boy, that's a lot of Republican rhetoric you're spewing there...I am white, Catholic and Democrat. I have not been adversely affected by any of the policies you mention. Perhaps it's because I don't believe in blaming others for the choices I have made in my life.
2
Thank you for your shoutout to the DFL. The precinct caucuses last night gave us the opportunity to interact with each other and meet down-ballot candidates. We are committed to working together to make Minnesota more equal and just - for all who live here. We missed the debates, but will vote in our first presidential primary since 1992 on March 3 -- Super Tuesday.
And thank you for another challenging column that addresses race -- the toughest and most troublesome issue faced by DFL candidates.
6
The Democratic nemesis is immigration. To many on the left, any restriction is seen as anathema. And this leaves them open to the claim that they want open borders.
If the Democrats want to win, they need to have a reasonable position on this topic. This should include the issues a clear majority backs: a quick path to citizenship for the Dreamers, a provision to allow undocumented immigrants already here for a significant period of time who have not been convicted of a serious crime or who are not otherwise ineligible to apply for legal residence and then, after at least five years, for citizenship, and a revision of the current immigration priorities including family unification. And, most importantly, expanding the adjudication system so that asylum and similar claims are resolved promptly, rather than taking years.
Otherwise, this is the issue that Trump, led by Stephen Miller and his minions, can win on.
23
@John Graybeard Show me the people who believe it should be unrestricted. I haven't seen anyone advocating that position.
13
@John Graybeard -- Not one of the Democratic candidates is calling for open borders. Not one. Open borders are not a progressive goal, nor do progressives embrace this idea. Even the most radical progressives agree that the United States has the right to preserve its sovereignty and protect its borders. No one is advocating just flinging open the doors and letting in the whole world. This is a lie promoted by Trump and Fox News. Don't fall for it.
4
Can you please cite your sources for the clear majority that supports these things? If I recall correctly, when the administration challenged DACA, it was in response to several states preparing to sue that DACA was illegal.
1
I laugh every time I read the phrase "reverse racism." That aside, we have an uphill struugle against racism in this country because it is ingrained in our society and has been from the beginning. One only needs to look at, however unpleasant it may be, the number of slave owning signers of the Declaration of Independence and indeed that in their thinking at the time, all men meant white, male AND property owning. Then there's our treatment of the indigenous peoples and the immigration shenanigans of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But even given that, such a struggle is paramount in realizing a republic of the people, in truly asserting that all men are equal.
20
I read all these Op-Eds about what the Dems should or shouldn't do. Mr Edsall makes sound observations and gives sound advice and Thomas Friedman's "team of rivals" column yesterday was brilliant, but there any evidence that any of this reaches the eyes and ears of they who matter - the candidates? Watching last night's debate it sure don't look that way.
18
Racism, discrimination of women, the desecration of the natural world, the exploitation of foreign people and lands, and the heinous raising of animals in factory farms are all signs of patriarchy and domination all used towards keeping the engines of capitalism running smooth. It is also seen in religion and in societies throughout the world. It is not just about power inequality between men and women, but also power and domination in the worldview of our species. It will continue no matter who wins, but it will prosper, as we are seeing under the present administration.
Are we willing to examine ourselves, our society, our economy, our religious structures, our consumer choices, and whom we choose to represents us politically, and how our way of life is patriarchic? Can we or do we as a nation want to choose a more evolved and enlightened worldview?
18
Progressive values such as having a strong social safety net should supersede race, and if the country had not voted in Ronald Reagan we would be a lot more civilized and united nation at this point. The ignorance and unconscious behavior of Republican voters has brought us to this low point.
26
@Eugene Debs
Right.
Reagan and Republicans did it.
Unlike 40+ years of Democrats and ‘progressives’ putting everyone into various grievance groups for political purposes.
24
@EGD :
Congress makes the laws. Look at how often the Dems and the GOP has controlled Congress since Reagan. GOP, by a lot.
8
@gratis
You're right, and one has to only look at the 2010 House election and the landslide victory of the Tea Party, winning 63 of 87 races, orchestrated by Paul Ryan by the way, as a key moment.
That election byt itself got rid of all but a few of the remaing Moderates in the Republican House. And just look at the recent Impeachment voting as evidnce of there no longer being anyone capable of reaching across the aisle.
1
It is not possible to use this message: "The most effective liberal-Democratic message read:
America’s strength comes from our ability to work together — to knit together a landscape of people from different places and of different races into one nation."
And, divide people up by race, class, and sexual preference. Clyborne of SC put forth the most balanced proposal for helping persistently poor and poorly performing communities for support. Poor and needy and poor and opportunity go together; sorting out the ones of this character or another creates a situation where equally needy people are treated differently.
Pulling the nation together is the goal, not first sorting people by one or more characteristics is a path to division. Find messages that do this and win across the board.
14
The fact that Trump's racism gains traction speaks about a segment of the electorate. The Dems are aware of this and don't want that segment of the population in their party. Sure they can vote, but only the worst politician would want them.
The appropriate response it to put those people in their place and impose penalties for their behavior. We spend so much federal money subsidizing them; that can be taken away under the next Democratic administration.
7
Race and immigration are different issues.
Immigration , as Krugman has pointed out, lowers wages of the lower classes of Americans.
From Notes on Immigration
"First, the benefits of immigration to the population already here are small. "
"My second negative point is that immigration reduces the wages of domestic workers who compete with immigrants. That’s just supply and demand: we’re talking about large increases in the number of low-skill workers relative to other inputs into production, so it’s inevitable that this means a fall in wages"
Paul Krugman NY Times 2006
Working Americans had stagnant wages for 2 decades . They had enough. But the elites keep pushing immigration
And thirdly, immigration does cost money. that could be spend otherwise. To cite Krugman , again
"Finally, the fiscal burden of low-wage immigrants is also pretty clear. Mr. Hanson uses some estimates from the National Research Council to get a specific number, around 0.25 percent of G.D.P. Again, I think that you’d be hard pressed to find any set of assumptions under which Mexican immigrants are a net fiscal plus, but equally hard pressed to make the burden more than a fraction of a percent of G.D.P."
Those who doubt that race and immigration are different need only look to Britain. Polish plumbers were as white as their English counterparts, but as their influx pushed down wages, resentment of the working class against immigration skyrocket.
35
@LArs The British resentment against Polish plumbers was because those plumbers spoke Polish to each other in pubs and other public spaces. If the British really resented Polish plumbers, they wouldn’t have hired them in the first place.
@Saints Fan
That is why the owners of London mansions love immigration.
Until they lose their own jobs to immigrants they will continue to do so
Elizabeth Warren (whom I support, by the way), since taking an early lead, has been the Democrats' most explicit advocate for redirecting federal money to the African American community to make up for past wrongs . . . and her polling numbers have dropped from 25% to 10%, where they seem stuck.
As Mr. Edsall points out, in between liberals and conservatives there is 59% of the electorate that is open to liberal policy proposals, but also susceptible to counter arguments, such as that single parent homes, low commitment to educational achievement, high crime rates and high rates of substance abuse are also factors in minority poverty rates. To people like that, a lot of progressive rhetoric sounds like calls to lift drug using, high school drop out teenage mothers of 4 above working class whites.
The Democrats would do better to call for lifting everyone out of poverty, out of health insecurity, out of housing insecurity. EVERYONE includes African Americans. African Americans does not include EVERYONE.
23
To answer your question yes, call him out for it like Welch did to McCarthy circa 1950 but don't dwell on it.
Offers progressive moderate solutions to issues that Trump demagogued mainly immigration.
Come up with a fair, moderate, coherent plan on immigration that most Americans can agree upon, especially moderate swing state voters in swing states that went for Trump.
It's not rocket science.
4
Fine detailed editorial here. Perplexing, challenging ...
The core question here, racism, must always somehow be neutered from every core policy consideration.
We must somehow frame every core policy as a universal consideration, practical and undeniable.
Sanders etc are right, but as a policy base, when everything if free, it is simply too racially alarmist.
Our constant comparisons with the U.S.A. to Nordic countries ignores our big demographic differences.
We let the Republicans seize the high-ground on the immigration issues. No one should even smell like they advocate open borders and the elimination of ICE.
If you want to immigrate to Canada, Australia, etc. there is in place a system of strict qualifications.
If it a desirable place to be, nobody can just walk in.
And free or low-cost, non-profit healthcare- everybody needs it- like electricity and water, unless you are independently wealthy.
The details of how we get it done...
Free education is alarmist. Free whatever is race bait.
Why not simply inexpensive as opposed to free?
It used to be inexpensive before funding was cut to our state universities. People could actually work and go to college, and with just a little help, or none, could graduate without student loan indebtedness.
When we frame these central policies as freebies,
we lose more of the "persuadables" who wrongly see it
as rewarding the undeserving.
14
The first step is to get clear on the definition of "racism". It's an overused term that has lost its meaning. This includes clarity on what it is not. Specifically, it's not bringing our immigration policies in line with other nation. It's not having a firmly enforced border.
Mr. Edsall is very skilled at supporting his arguments with "studies." Unfortunately, he doesn't really help his readers get that clue he believes they need. If anything, he perpetuates the problem.
31
@AACNY
By citing studies, he supports his statements with research, not opinion.
Nobody is against a "firmly enforced border". How that is done is presently problematic. People kept in what are effectively camps and children separated from parents as a negotiating tool is opposed and it should be. A belief that anyone breaking the law deserves whatever comes their way is also a part of that.
As for racism, what part do you find unclear? It does include ethnicity as well as skin color. When either of those traits become metrics of value or criminal intent or moral probity, that's racism.
19
@uwteacher
Your problem is with "how you do it"? I would argue that Trump is doing exactly what is needed.
We had a crisis at our border, which Trump has successfully addressed. Our asylum process was one of the chief causes of the mess. It allowed anyone to live and work here for years while his/her asylum claim was adjudicated. Denials have now been fast tracked.
Unfortunately, there's still tremendous dysfunction in the next step, which is deportation. Sanctuary cities allow people to violate their deportation orders. Fortunately, Trump is working to address that as well.
Trump is the first president to tackle the immigration mess head on. Long overdue.
18
@AACNY
Yes. Trump is tacking the mess head on, but suggest you look at the way he's doing it.
Stranding people in another country, or penning them like animals until more jails can be built to contain them.
Granted. Something must be done against unfettered immigration -- but you don't solve one problem by creating another.
Thank you for this article. We have not done a good job of helping people understand that they are fearing the wrong things. All humans suffer. We all die and fear loss of resources and self-direction. We, liberals, have done a poor job of understanding how to change people's fear of the "other." We have spent way too much time arguing among ourselves (again evident in last nights debate) and vilifying the fearful. We don't alleviate fear by being angry, accusatory, or dismissive. We actually increase it. I am partially indigenous and know the ugly history of oppression, At the same time, we have spent a lot of time concerned with this oppression and have ignored the class and socioeconomic issues that most American's face. We need to figure out ways to reach out with our hands open to caring to those oppressed by their own fear.
5
Listen, we get it. Trump says things that are offensive, or at least are found offensive by those who wake every morning looking to be offended. If Democrats ever want to return to power we must focus on issues that affect every American. We can work on racial equality and civil rights when we return to power. There is not a single Democrat run city that I would consider living in at the moment. Focus on quality of life issues. Reminding white men that they are responsible for all that ails society wins us nothing. Make society better for all by focusing on economic growth and prosperity. Let me keep my health plan. Protest less. Work more.
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@Josh. F.
There's a reason "income inequality" has been replaced by complaints about "the rich, "oligarchs", and "the system." Trump is responsible for low- and median-wage workers experiencing the greatest wage gains. That's exactly how income inequality is addressed.
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@AACNY :
Low wage gains are due to liberal states raising the minimum wage by law. There is no Trump policy that helped the poor or middle class. None.
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@AACNY
I will note that the largest part of the gains for lower income groups is due to the increase in minimum wage, something opposed by the GOP.
If you examine the ratios of average and median income numbers, you will find that the median gains are certainly not unique to the last 3 years.
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The GOP has not only used racism forever (Mr. Edsall did not mention Goldwater's attacks on the 1964 Civil Rights Act) but it has made it electorally sound to do so through voter suppression. In addition, the Electoral College awards this revolting behavior. Unfortunately, while the inclusion message is necessary and morally correct, it might not win the electoral votes needed in the next election. For example, while Floridian voters have passed an amendment to allow felons to vote, the GOP controlled state legislature is still making them pay all fees, which is a poll tax in direct violation of the 24th Amendment and Voting Rights Act. Nevertheless, these felons, who would likely approve a message that attacks racism, will not get to reward the Dems for their attempts.
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Thank you for this article - there's a lot in there.
" .... with a new focus on active white protection, rather than simply colorblind efforts to constrain positive governmental actions. Trump has fanned the anger of many white supporters convinced that post-1970 federal policies have unjustly favored people of color."
This is so important for understanding Trump's rise, but it's also very predictable: populists the world over identify their target group, heighten a sense of their vulnerability, then present their politicians/policies as a way to enhance the voters' security.
My only quibble, which is more of a question: might there be space for Black-identified, or race conscious activists (the ones who expressed resistance to the researcher's arguments on campus) to pursue their own path, and for others - whites etc - to be putting this research into practice?
I understand the skepticism of the former, which is justified in most cases about "white liberals" but this doesn't mean that the attempt to connect with the "persuadables" should end there.
The emphasis should be on thinking about voters as motivated by interests, rather than racism (even though there is usually a racialized aspect to the way such voters frame their interests - as you would expect in a country such as the US, or France for that matter).
Thanks again for this - please publish more of this type of reporting.
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"In other words, if the president of the United States denigrates Muslims, or Hispanics, or African-Americans, then anyone can."
it's awfully hard to combat the loudest and fiercest megaphone in the country with facts and reason. it seems in Minnesota progressives were able to reclaim the spotlight on a local level talking to state residents in a way they understand.
The lesson seems to be, stay local. Trying to mount a national campaign won't work because the loudest voice in the world has already claimed all the airwaves.
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"It's the Economy, Democrats!", win the election, the govern WISELY!
Stop arguing about the Pillars of Democracy that the Independants weren't listening to when they were in high school, anyway, and dwell on economic issues like pay and affordable health care to let people change jobs and become something other than the Prey of Capitalism.
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I usually agree with the points Mr. Edsall is making, but his overreliance on quotes from others too often makes his columns read like term papers. I'd like to see him summarize and paraphrase much more of his source material.
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@Dave Thomas Edsall is the best contributor to NYT Opinion section. He provides primary sources for his thoughts and opinions as well as those for counterarguments. I always learn something worth knowing when I read his column.
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@Quinn
Primary sources that support his arguments. Best to remember it's still an opinion piece.
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Much of what is written here seems to be based on equating enforcement of immigration law with racism. I do not agree this is always the case. Yes, in past decades our immigration policy was clearly racist, but today I think most Americans favor liberalizing and accelerating LEGAL immigration, yet the only way that will happen is if ILLEGAL immigration is controlled to the maximum extent possible first. Our country needs and benefits from inbound immigration but illegal immigration must not be normalized.
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@T Smith
Certainly there are positions on immigration reform & on reform of undocumented labor, that bring our practices into alignment with law, that are not racist. But Trump consistently states his position in racist or racially inflammatory terms. And, it's worth noting that it is the GOP that has consistently blocked reforms.
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@T Smith Newton said for every action there is an equal & opposite reaction. If this election is about kitchen table issues: jobs & education there's no way the Democrats lose. If it's about reparations, illegal immigration,& wedding cakes there's no way we win. These are the only issues that would compel independent swing voters to hold their nose & vote for Trump again. What progressives & their co-dependents will never understand is that Anti-left” will always beat “Anti-Trump” in most places in the U.S. but especially in swing states like Ohio & Florida. Our best chance is to run from the center. Trump wouldn't have capitalized on the salience of race & ethnicity if the Democrats hadn't exploited it. Exploited they have to the max from offering free health care to illegals to crowing about the new minority-majority which is itself a lie to ignoring working-class concerns. Mind you the working class has always been one of the cornerstones of the Democratic party. Why one would want to alienate them has to be the most idiotic political decisions of all time. This strategy has handcuffed the party. They're unable to react in real-time to issues that concern all voters for fear of alienating their now identitarian base. The biggest question implied but not answered in this article is can Democratic Moderates & progressives co-exist in the same party. I would say absolutely not. The voters we need to win back the country have different values. There's no way to bridge the gap.
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Sadly, it shows us how much charisma over character is vital to win the election and then to win the votes to pass responsible, respectable change.
Charisma is the fuel and who has it — should and could lead the country to send Trump home!
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We inherited the basis of racism from our mammalian ancestors, where it manifested itself as territoriality. We have taken that instinct, which was vital to group survival, and turned it into an intellectual sense of territory; the classic 'us and them' thinking which has dominated human history from our very beginnings. Until we recognize that describing any one human group as 'different' from any other simply feeds that inclination, we will have racism with us, as we do with religious bigotry, male/female relations, local and national competitiveness, and all the rest. We are programmed to see the world in 'us and them' terms, which means that fighting racism will continue to be a hard slog.
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The real reason behind articles such as this is that neither of the likely Democratic nominees, Sanders or Bloomington, is doing well with blacks or latinos, to put it mildly.
Trump's strong performance with minorities at the State of Union, and Pelosi's tear off at the end sure won't help.
A choice of a vice-president might do some good, but ultimately people vote for the president.
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Does anyone know what has happened to the spirit of "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"? I have not heard much of this in our political conversations from left or right.
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@HPower
The “do your own thing” decade of the sixties and the Vietnam War killed it within a few years of its utterance.
What politician can say it with any credibility? Have you seen any leave public office poorer than when they entered?
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As U.S. education levels plummet (check our ranking in the OECD) expect 1) demagoguery and racism to soar 2) a downward spiral - as a resulting declining economy forces further cuts. (Nobody in my family is in the education profession - but a bright future depends on a bright [or at least an educated] society).
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@Grant … That's why Republicans consistently neglect and even denigrate education: it makes it easier to con and control people when they don't know much more than what they on Fox News.
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@Grant
So many of my Trump-loving relatives and neighbors actually brag that they do not save for their children's education because, "I didn't get a college degree and I turned out fine." or "Let them pay for it with loans."
They don't see family education as an investment or a priority, but will lease very high-end "American" vehicles and get $1,000 tattoos.
When they learn our three kids haven't borrowed much (if any) for college, they ask, "How or why?"
We note some scholarships, but more importantly a very deep 529 initiated at birth and funded simply at $50/month (or more as my income rose). But I guess that would infringe on buying a 56-inch TV or gun collection that they don't know how to shoot well on the clay course or gallery (ugh, terrible shots).
White bread and Republican circuses to keep them distracted and stupid. It's working.
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@Grant Regarding the importance of education, I highly recommend "The Evil of Banality" by Elizabeth Minnich (2017). Her basic point, elaborated to book length, is that evil is impossible in the presence of critical thinking. As Minnich writes, "People who are not thinking are capable of anything". If that is so, then teaching our citizens how to think (and not to be afraid of doing so) is an essential task for society. It's clear we're not doing it very well. Hence, as you note, declining education will lead to demagoguery and racism. I wish I had a solution.
1
No decisions will ever have good outcomes when fueled by destructive emotions such as anger & hate; when these consume man, he is no longer in charge & bad actors in & outside a country can use this to fuel more division eg psychological warfare. In the hands of a self serving government these blind spots help an agenda to eliminate programs that provide shared benefits.
Too many adults may be too far gone but we need to starting teaching the children about emotional intelligence. We also need to get people connecting off line and having real conversations with people from all walks to realize we in fact have much in common.
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The bigotry may have been "unleashed" by Trump, but that means the bigotry was there -- the German shepherd in the room leashed -- all along. I believe that is true.
Why?
According to Erich Fromm, author of Escape from Freedom (1941), it's because Protestantism -- as shaped by Luther and Calvin and passed along by Andrew Carnegie, Ayn Rand, Jeremiah Wright, and on and on -- does not believe in equality -- far from it --, and therefore rankings and racism are features, not bugs, in those highly influential belief systems.
Is the goal to put bigotry back on its leash or to affirm the basic equality of all mankind--ie, their equal access to the rights and opportunities named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
After the Hanau shooting, Angela Merkel declared racism and hate are poisons, which is true, but is she prepared to lead an examination of the sources of that poison, including 500 years of holier-than-thou Protestantism?
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@Christopher Delogu
This in my opinion is absolutely absurd. Did Catholicism believe in equality when for over a thousand years there was the most rigid social hierarchy imaginable presided over by bishops who were essentially princes?
@Peter Hello Peter, Being vastly ignorant about Church history and theology, I'm incompetent when it comes to your question; however I simply wonder, as I read Fromm, if there's maybe a correlation between Lutheran and Calvinist belief in "depravity", endless striving, and contempt for the weak on the one hand and on the other the politics of resentment and differentialist racism and bigotry that seems to be particularly concentrated in culturally Protestant areas.
I am not defending Catholicism or holding it up as superior.
In any case, Edsall only asks Democrats to "diminish the bigotry" -- that seems not ambitious enough to me, though a good start.
Hard to fight because it sells so well. It might be countered if the economic/fiscal conditions weakened and the Dems are once again called upon to save the day, as they been for the last 25 years.
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Conflating the allowance of illegal immigration with ending racial discrimination is simply offensive.
'Racial justice' does not include allowing anyone to freely, knowingly break a long list of laws without consequence.
Social justice does not mean allowing an entire class of residents exemption from the laws, the costs and obligations to the general welfare that others are legally held accountable for.
There is nothing liberal or progressive about defending the corruption and opportunism of certain favored groups being held to different standards and systemically disparate law enforcement for political gain. For anyone regardless of race.
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@CNNNNC - I understand that there must be borders to protect the citizenry of the country although why not apply the same vitriol of condemnation of rule breaking to the employers who profit off of cheap labor which is disempowered to confront their employers when they demand illegal labor or refuse to pay individuals? The bible refers to immigrants as sojourners and reminds us that Jesus was an immigrant as well? In fact bible verse, Matthew 25:35 reminds Christians of this in the quote "I was a stranger and you invited me in." Under a higher power we are no longer strangers, instead all members of a family as God's children. The irony is that Evangelicals support a president of the country who has rejected literal biblical advice on how to treat those among us who have the least possessions and are suffering the most.
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@Greg Illegal immigrants are not held to the same laws as citizens. That's my point.
When was the last time you heard of an 'undocumented' immigrant being prosecuted for income tax evasion or ID fraud?
Those are felonies citizens are prosecuted for. No one says that is wrong or cares if they are separated from their family.
That the 'undocumented' are exempt from laws that citizens are held accountable for does not make them better and doing so systemically is not some twisted form of social justice.
And protesting obvious corruption and opportunism is not racist or xenophobic.
And when Edsall talks about speaking out against racial discrimination in the same sentence as 'immigration' as if there is no difference between legal and illegal, he has conflated the two.
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@CNNNNC
Our prisons are full of federal inmates who never had the benefit of a "sanctuary" anything. Allowing a certain group to break the law while fully prosecuting others is terribly unfair.
Just because Edsall can make a case, it doesn't mean it's a good one.
10
All nations have requirements for, and limitations on, who may become citizens and how.
Most Americans welcome LEGAL immigrants, but do not want ILLEGAL immigrants. They recognize that the US cannot afford (or choose not) to support our own citizens: the poor, the ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al., and that they and other US taxpayers cannot possibly support the 20 million illegal immigrants already in the US, much less the hundreds of millions of foreigners who would like to come here.
US laws allow foreigners to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws are in this country illegally and should be detained and deported; this is policy in other countries, too.
The cruelty lies not in limiting legal immigration, or detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, or forcing those who wish to enter the US to undergo processing and review.
What is cruel, unethical and probably illegal is encouraging parents to bring their children on the dangerous trek to US borders and teaching the parents how to game the system to enter the US by falsely claiming asylum, persecution, etc. Indeed, many believe bringing children on such perilous journeys constitutes child abuse.
No other nation has open borders, nor should the US.
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@Mon Ray
What do you think it says about how terrible their lives are, that people would do all the things you mention and risk being caught and detained, just for a CHANCE at a life in America as an undocumented/second or third-rate citizen?
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@Mon Ray Only part of your comment is accurate. The Republican Party, under Trump's thumb, has become completely hostile to any sort of legal immigration. Stephen Miller, Trump's immigration guru, recently stated that he thinks only of how to reduce the number of immigrants and refugees coming into this country.
"I don't disagree with LEGAL immigration" is essentially the xenophobic counter to "I'm not a racist, but..."
10
@Mon Ray
I cringe every time I hear someone use the term “illegal” for an undocumented resident.
I have a tendency to ofttimes drive faster than the posted speed limit. Nobody calls me an “illegal” Nobody calls Harvey Weinstein an “illegal”. Nobody calls a good portion of Trump’s former and current cabinet and associates “illegals”. Nobody calls the Houston Astros “illegals”.
Apparently, there is only one class of people who get to be called “illegals”. Desperate people fleeing desperate situations without having filed the deliberately imposing and hard-to-find “proper forms” should be additionally saddled with that term.
When I hear someone use that term, it speaks volumes to me about the person who uses it.
4
So we’re all just going to forget how Republican anti-immigrant messaging fell flat on its face in the 2017 and 2018 elections? In Virginia it might have actually hurt Ed Gillespie; and all of Trump’s wheezy screaming about the “caravan” didn’t keep the House safe for the GOP.
I get that there’s plenty of evidence at how othering our fellow Americans work. I’m absolutely baffled that pundits simply refuse to consider compelling counter evidence from recent contests.
20
Trump has brought black and hispanic unemployment to historic lows. What better way to support someone than to provide them the dignity of work instead of social assistance?
Trump will likely increase his vote from black and latinos far beyond what he got in 2016. His campaign then on "vote for me – what do you have to lose?" worked.
Trump will certainly not get the vote of the social scientists in academia who wrote all the studies quoted by Mr. Edsall, who, by the way, gave no racism example in his article. But that, of course, will not matter at all.
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@novoad If you look at the jobs being created, they are mostly minimum wage. These people still need government assistance. Also, people who are chronically unemployed don't get counted as unemployed, so there's that. I don't think many people who have to get a second minimum wage job are happy about it.
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@Panthiest In October, 2016, I was volunteering on a Habitat project with a working class African American. I asked him who he was voting for. Much to my surprise( because the mainstream media, pollsters etc had told me otherwise), he said "Trump". By way of explanation, he said, "Obama had done nothing for Blacks". It was at this point that I knew Trump was going to win. Now, with minority unemployment at all-time lows, my friend is probably understandably perplexed by the charges of racism against Trump. For those in that group who know have jobs and can finally see a financial future for themselves, they're probably thinking, "If this is racism(as the Left says it is), give me more of it."
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@novoad
Jobs, jobs, jobs. Bottom line. Trump's delivering.
6