White Supremacist America: Trump and the “Return” of Right-Wing Hate Culture

[Judi Lynn]

White Supremacist America: Trump and the “Return” of Right-Wing Hate Culture
September 16, 2016
by Anthony DiMaggio

Many of my friends from college and fellow academics in the last year are focusing their anxieties on the Donald Trump campaign. A common frustration voiced among intellectuals is the disbelief that a candidate as bigoted, pig-headed, and willfully ignorant as “the Donald” could be running neck and neck with a seasoned political veteran like Hillary Clinton. This piece is not about Hillary Clinton, however. Rather, it’s about promoting a much needed discussion of what Trump’s rise really tells us. I don’t believe we have a “Donald Trump” problem in this country. The problem is much worse than that. More ominously, we have an American public problem that cuts to the very core of the quality of our democracy. Demagogues rise to power on the backs of workers, citizens, and your average “Joe” or “Jane.” They do not owe their success to their actions alone.

If Donald Trump is enjoying electoral success, it’s because the public – passively or actively – allowed it to happen. While Pew Research Center surveys do find considerable ignorance among Trump supporters – the most commonly cited reasons for supporting him have nothing to do with policy, but everything to do with personality characteristics – this trend was observed across all the front-runners, including Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Ted Cruz supporters. What makes Trump’s case more disturbing than the norm of across-the-board voter ignorance is that such a large contingent of Americans know full-well about his bigotry, and embrace it. The ascendance of Donald Trump tells us much about the quality of American character – particularly about our enduring and toxic legacy of hate, ignorance, bigotry, and white-supremacy.

Hillary Clinton caught a lot of flak for referring to half of Trump Supporters as “the deplorables.” She was being far too generous. Public opinion surveys over the last year or so suggest that the white supremacist contingent of Trump voters is even larger. When I say white supremacist, I’m not referring to the old-style, KKK, white robe donning and lynchings of America’s past. Rather, the contemporary form of white supremacy is more of a “hate-lite” – if such a thing exists – in terms of its supporters embracing horrible, racist stereotypes, while claiming to reject racism. Call this “color-blind” racism, dog whistle racism, coded racism – or whatever you like, but it’s clear that white supremacy never disappeared from America’s political culture.

Consider recent surveys, if you want to ascertain the size of the problem. Polls of Trump supporters and Republicans more generally from 2015 and 2016 find clear and indisputable evidence of racism and prejudice against non-white, non-Christian Americans. I review these findings below.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/16/white-supremacist-america-trump-and-the-return-of-right-wing-hate-culture/

[Cgbell]

1. It's all just a game to him

What baffles me is there are still Trump supporters out there who believe Obama is Kenyan & Muslim. Trump has drawn then out if the shadows, now they're in our faces. When he tweeted 'Donald J Trump has pulled off the greatest trick..."he didn't just mean media, he was bragging that for the last 5 yrs. he had successfully taken this country back to the most divisive and yes, deplorable environment ever. He made fools of his supporters that believe every conspiracy theory, every lie out of his mouth. He demeaned the 1st African American president for purely jealous reasons. And the rest of us have been forced to be exposed to his ugliness the whole time. And for what? A game he is playing for his own selfish reasons. He literally makes me sick ever time he opens his mouth.

[Yallow]

2. " makes me sick ever time he opens his mouth"

When Trump speaks, I turn the channel. He is pathetic, and his supporters are not "deplorables" they are simply racists.

[modrepub]

4. I don't think he's channelling anything that isn't already out there

You'll hear it all the time (if you really listen). How many times have we heard that "American morals are breaking down" over the last 40 years. In almost every instance this phrase has been directed at nonwhite culture and or religion. The racism game is much more subtle than it was 50 to 60 years ago. But if you think overt racism doesn't exist any more than you need to listen to when Howard Stern's staff interview people on the street. The amount of anger directed at minorities (even from other minorities), women and Jews will make your skin crawl.

[Judi Lynn]

8. You're not alone. He also sounds as if he has a really bad, stuffed-up nose,

and when you look at the screen to see where that noise is coming from, you see a creepy little protruding mouth, with tiny lips, all puckered, resembling a little horn. Nice effect with the orange skin, and roadkill on his dome.

Those are his best features. The content of what he has to say would make a maggot gag.

Welcome to D.U., Cgbell.

[lebkuchen]

3. This is one of the best pieces I've read in awhile

Spot on.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Thanks for your post! n/t

[Bozvotros]

5. Fox TV and 24-7 hate radio minus Fairness Doctrine & Equal Time have normalized this "thinking."

But this abuse of the public airwaves gets little attention any more. Some states Supreme Courts have already ruled that news organizations can legally distort news and even present false information. Fox "News" facts have a dismal 40% relationship with reality. What exactly did we expect when right wing media owners have permission to let Rush, Hannity, Savage, Beck and local right wing hacks totally dominate radio for 30 years without any counterbalance? Those hosts have learned how to talk in code and with contempt about other races and reinforce racial animus in their listeners every day. But we pretend it isn't so bad or doesn't require balance and condemnation.

[world wide wally]

6. Trump does more to promote hate than anyone I have ever seen in my lifetime

I was born post WWII and I have never seen one person create so much hate as Donald Trump.
Not only the hate he inspires toward Mexicans, Muslims, immigrants and African Americans from his own followers, but then add in the hatred most sane people have against him as a person.
I have never seen anything like this.
We definitely have a surplus of hate in American c2016

[vinny9698]

7. Has the Civil War ever ended?

Now the Confederacy is using the courts and electing politicians to carry on their cause.
And very proud of it.
Teenage future Trump supporters. Their 50th anniversary is coming up at a local Trump rally. Make America Great Again means to them the right to pour sugar on minorities. A scene from the future movie “The Deplorables”.

[Judi Lynn]

10. That image is so hideous. What a shame there was no one to stand up for the good people there.

It's just as fresh, and horrifying as the first time I saw it.

How low can people get, anyway?

Damn them, anyway, and their psychopathic parents who raised them.