Why Trump Needs to start Tackling White Supremacism

Two weeks ago, over a period of 72 hours, numerous hate crimes (some attempted, some successful) were carried out against the Jewish population, the African American population, and those with different political views to the President within America.

Although these attacks have been directed at certain ethnicities or beliefs, their impact is far greater. This is an attack on everything America claims to stand for.

Of course I am not accusing Donald Trump of directly causing or approving of these attacks, however it is his outspoken and oppressive views- along with his silence on some events- that has stoked the environment in which America now resides.

Trump has changed the identity of the racist and the white supremacist. In past years, these people would hide behind hoods and slurs. Now, a white supremacist takes the form of a lawyer, a politician, senators.

Trump has made it acceptable for these people to step out of the dark. These crimes are being committed in the name of the ‘Greater Good’, in a bid to ‘Make America Great Again’.

 The thing that struck me most about those 72 hours was the President’s presence on his twitter page. He was quick to condemn the attack on the synagogue as well as the packages being sent to his political opponents.

...This evil Anti-Semitic attack is an assault on humanity. It will take all of us working together to extract the poison of Anti-Semitism from our world. We must unite to conquer hate.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2018

However, scrolling down Trump’s feed I cannot fail to notice the absence of a single tweet or retweet regarding the shooting of the two African Americans who were shot by a white gunman in a grocery store in Kentucky.

The man had originally tried to force entry into an ‘historically black church’ but had turned to the store when he failed to enter the place of worship.

In April, a white man entered a Waffle House in Tennessee and shot three African Americans one Latino.

Speaking on this, the Atlanta Black Star reported,

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'The president’s glaring silence on the four minority victims and the African-American hero who likely spared other lives from being taken speaks volumes to critics, who pointed out that Trump has taken the time to gripe about almost everything — except for this incident of home-grown terrorism. Since the shooting, Trump has taken the time to bang out angry tweets regarding “the dumb Comey memos,” a so-called “witch hunt” and the border wall.'

What the President does not realise is that this silence sends one message to his white supremacist supporters; THAT THE PRESIDENT APPROVES.

You think that Trump would’ve tweeted something great by now about the Hero in the Waffle House shooting if the hero was the one on the right instead of being the killer? @AP pic.twitter.com/67GtJa0crQ

— Mr. Reynolds (@melreynoldsU) April 23, 2018

 This is what the President had to say in response to the shooting in the synagogue:

“Look at the violence all over the world, the world has violence, the world is a violent world. And you think when you’re over it it just sort of goes away. But then it comes back in the form of a madman, a wacko, I think one thing we should do is we should stiffen up our laws in terms of the death penalty.”

In past interviews, Trump has failed to condemn the Ku Klux Clan, has attacked muslim immigrants, as well as the populations of South America who are fleeing for their lives.

After Trump was elected in 2016, the Progressive Charlestown news, Rhode Island, released an article entitled 'This HORRIFYING List Is Exactly Why We Can’t Say ‘It Will Be Okay’ Under Trump.'

Amongst the list were these terrifying events:

•  Students were parading with Trump signs around their school and chanting, “White power!”
•  Students at a middle school in Michigan were chanting, “Build the wall!”
•  The world’s premier white supremacy organization, the Ku Klux Klan, held a victory parade for Trump

                                                                          Image Credit : Progressive Charlestown 

•  Students at Maple Grove High School found, “Fuck n*****s, #fuckallporchmonkeys, #whitesonly, #whiteamerica, and Trump Train,” with the word “blacks” inside a circle with an x through it scrawled on a classroom door
• Muslim women in three disparate locations around the country reported being attacked for wearing hijabs. One man choked his victim with her hijab
• Nazi imagery is appearing around the country, including the words, “Trump,” and “Seig Heil,” some of which appeared on the anniversary of Kristallnact, or the night in 1938 that the Nazis burned and looted Jewish businesses and synagogues.

As the New York Times  warned in 2016 “Intentionally or not, Mr. Trump’s remarks are resonating with — and mobilizing — white supremacists, many of whom have traditionally refrained from participating in the political process.”

Of course, Trump does not control who supports him. What he can control, however, are his owns words and actions, which to the people of America, speak volumes.

He needs to actively identify the fact that white supremacists support him, and not only ask why, but address them directly and condemn them. Until the President starts addressing and tackling home-grown terrorism, the problem will only continue to worsen.