Trump Supporters Are Tired of Being Called Racist

I don't blame them. It's no fun to be called racist. Who likes it when people call you derogatory names? Who revels in personal abuse? I don't know anyone who likes it. I've been called names since I was a little kid and I've never really liked it. I don't like it now. Now, though, I can look at who's saying it and why and decide exactly how or why it's right or wrong. You need to reach a certain point before you can do that.

I've also learned a lot by being a teacher of ELLs. My students come from different places. They speak different languages. And every day they disprove stereotypes, be they good, bad, or otherwise. I once had a very smart young man in my class. He was horrified because every time there was a test, he'd do well but a young woman would do better. He had a very strong notion that people from her country were not as smart as people from his. Yet she outperformed him by every measure. I hope he learned something. You never know, though. Some people still wallow in stereotypes.

Here's Donald Trump Jr., for example, as quoted in the article:

“It’s sad,” he continued, “that using ‘racism’ has become the easy button of left-wing politics. All right? Because guess what? It still is an issue … But by making a mockery of it by saying every time you can’t win a fight—‘Oh! We’re just gonna push the button! It’s racist’—you hurt those that are actually afflicted by it. People hear it, they roll their eyes, and they walk on. And that’s a disgrace, and that’s what you’ve been given in the identity politics of the left.”

It's "the left." It's what they do. And they're all the same, evidently. So I must do it too. Every time there's an issue I can't win, evidently, I call someone a racist. That's how simple my mind must be. I'm incapable of producing any other argument when I'm losing, according to Junior, so I push "the easy button." It's pretty easy to define huge swaths of people when you indulge in stereotypes. But guess what people who indulge stereotypes are more likely to be? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say racist.

Then you have the President of the United States, Donald Trump. You know, the guy who thinks four Congresswomen of color should go back where they came from. The fact that three of four of them were born here is neither here nor there. That his BFFs provide over an electoral system that systematically disenfranchises voters of color means nothing. The guy who talks about shithole countries, who makes jokes about murdering immigrants, who stereotypes immigrants as rapists, gang members and murderers. The guy who wants to enact a Muslim ban, despite the fact that most domestic terrorism is committed by white men. The guy who vilifies the city of a Congressman of color for the egregious offense of investigating Donald Trump.

What exactly is it that makes people idolize a pathological liar? Why would people look up to anyone who took credit for everything and responsibility for nothing? How does anyone overlook a failure to have grown up? Do we want our children to be like that?

The only answer I can come up with is that Trump represents something people like. He represents saying whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want. He has no self-control, no education, and he ended up President of the United States. Maybe, then, we can all do whatever we want too. Here are a few words from a Trump supporter who doesn't like being called a racist:

When I asked Roseanna and Amy whether they would join in a “Send her back!” chant were it to take place that night, both women said no, but out of deference to Trump. “He apologized for that, so I think us as Trump supporters will respect him for that,” Roseanna said. She then shared her thoughts on the chant’s target, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who came to America as a refugee from Somalia.

“Look, but she is gonna get—you know, I don’t want her stinkin’ Muslim crap in my country,” Roseanna said.

Maybe she likes feeling like white people are better than Muslims, or Somalians, or people of color, or whatever it is. Therefore she's a racist. Certainly not everyone who supports Trump and objects to being called racist makes such idiotic utterances. Nonetheless, it's getting harder and harder for me to understand how people can continue to support Trump without endorsing his overt racism.

In any case, I have a small suggestion for people who are tired of being called racist. Maybe you should stop supporting this President. Maybe you should stop bending over backwards to rationalize each and every despicable thing he tweets and says. Maybe you should reassess exactly what, "Make America great again" implies.

Most of all, if you don't want to be called racist, stop being a frigging racist. Start to actively oppose racism. Stop looking the other way when lunatics, empowered by the insane rhetoric of Donald Trump, shoot up public places targeting people of color. It's gonna take a whole lot more than thoughts and prayers.