NOTE: This column was written yesterday.
I can assure you that the images you’re seeing today (early Saturday) are not Charlottesville. Most of this hatred is imported. David Duke has flown in to support the hate groups and stated, “We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in.” He said, “we’re taking our country back.”
“Take our country” back is a slogan white people repeated throughout the Obama era. We know what that means. We also know that the White Nationalists in Charlottesville have been encouraged by Donald Trump.
Trump tweeted out that what’s happening in Charlottesville is “sad.” I’m surprised he didn’t post a frownie face imoji. Trump later condemned the hate and violence of “many sides.” He didn’t call out the White Nationalists, which is what this entire protest was about. They started the protest. This entire thing was initiated by racists screaming about white rights and Donald Trump didn’t call them out.
Trump calls out Hispanic groups by name. He calls out black groups. When white racists do bad things his response is “they all do bad things and they should stop. Sad!” Republicans got upset that President Obama wouldn’t use the specific words “radical Islamic terrorism.” I’m sure they’re OK that Donald Trump can’t call out his base of White Nationalists.
At this time, there is one dead and 19 injured in Charlottesville, and Trump is partly to blame.
Donald Trump ran on a campaign of hate. He started his campaign by calling Mexicans “rapists and murderers.” He has staffed his White House with the racists Breitbart faction Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka.
When Trump unveiled his initiative to restrict “legal” immigration to white-English speakers, he had Miller explain the policy because racists would love that. Trump has fought hard to ban refugees from Muslim nations entering our country.
Donald Trump is a racist, and he’s afraid of angering his racist base. If anything, he’s cultivated it.
Clay Jones can be reached at [email protected]