La Opinion (Editorial)
March 1, 2016
The
controversy created by Ku Klux Klan ex-leader David Duke’s endorsement
of Republican candidate Donald Trump is an example of the reach and
resonance of his populist
message among the country’s most racist sectors.
Whether
Trump is a racist or not is still to be determined. But he has proven
to be a cunning manipulator. He knows how to take advantage of the
frustration of a sector
of the white working class which has seen its quality of life
deteriorate due to low wages and unemployment. It is true that Trump’s
populism targets Wall Street and the white, Republican business
establishment, but his main message reaffirms the base’s idea
that the progress of racial and ethnic minorities is to blame for their
ills.
This
sentiment is especially present in Southern states, many of which had
their primary yesterday. Trump wants to have it both ways by refusing to
immediately reject
Duke’s support, as he is catering to racists still in denial about the
defeat of the slave states during the Civil War. These same people are
now protesting the growing presence of Latinos, which is significant in
those areas of the country.
The
ongoing vilification of immigrants feeds resentment against Latinos,
from the Mexican government to undocumented people. For Trump, they are
all criminals who steal
when they are not killing and who create unemployment and cause wages
to drop when they are working. He even says that the fact that Gonzalo
Curiel ‒ the district attorney assigned to his legal case for alleged
fraud at his Trump University ‒ is a Latino of
immigrant parents has been detrimental to him.
We
must not forget that Trump led one of the best-tolerated racist
campaigns in recent times when he questioned President Obama’s
citizenship and religion just because
he is black and has an uncommon name. That was when Trump first earned
the sympathy of the unhappy Republican base that has taken him to the
cusp of the Party.
Racism
is a cancer to society that, today, it is not being presented as racial
superiority but as a justification to rail against the threat of
diversity, represented
in their eyes by the ills brought about by globalization, the impact of
technology on labor and by ever-changing demographics.
Trump’s nationalistic populism reaffirms and broadens these beliefs.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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