The Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] is possibly the most active and effective organization targeting hate groups, including the klan, Neo-nazis, and Christian terrorists, in the country.
The SPLC recently published a report on hate crimes that have occurred since the election. The number (as of November 29) is stunning and terrifying— 867. Equally sobering is the map showing at least one hate crime occurred in every state.
We do not live in a country that is post-racial, nor can we waste time with absurd notions like pursuing a progressive agenda that ‘dispenses with identity politics’.
A fascist was elected because of identity politics. If we pretend this isn’t what happened, and what is happening, people will suffer, be incarcerated because they have the wrong skin color, face discrimination or deportation for following the hijab, or simply be attacked in their homes, on the street, in their congregation.
People will die if we ignore the reality staring us in the face. People already have died.
Trying to ignore or run away from the politics of identity means pretending this is not the America we live in:
Asian-Americans were also among those targeted with anti-immigrant rhetoric and racial slurs. While a Chinese-American high school student was getting gas, a white man approached her to say, “Can’t wait for Trump to deport you or I will deport you myself, dyke yellow bitch.” On a sidewalk in San Antonio, Texas, a young man asked a girl waiting for the bus, “You’re Asian, right? When they see your eyes, you are going to be deported.” (pg. 7)
In many anti-black incidents, references to lynching has been common. “Noose Tying 101” was written on a whiteboard at San Francisco State University, and a black doll was found hanging from a noose in an elevator at New York’s Canisius College. (pg. 8)
At a hospital in Chicago, a woman reported that a man in the elevator looked at her and said, “Fuckin’ sandnigger. Thank God Trump is now president. He’s gonna deport your terrorist ass.” Muslim women wearing hijabs have been particularly vulnerable to threats and assault. Women reported being grabbed by their hijab, including a San Jose State University student who was choked and fell when a man pulled her head scarf from behind in a parking garage. (pg. 10)
In Russellville, Arkansas, a woman found a note written on a piece of trash taped to her door, which read, “Trump says get back in the closet, fags!” In Sarasota, Florida, a 75-yearold gay man was ripped from his car and beaten by an assailant who told him, “You know my new president says we can kill all you faggots now.” (pg. 10)
Make no mistake, the sixty million proto-fascists who voted for Trump believe deeply in their identity— the supremacy of white heterosexual Christians. Deluding ourselves that this is not the case will not ‘bring back’ one single Trump voter, or persuade them to consider voting for a Democrat because of ‘shared economic concerns and interests’.
The mythical monolithic White Working Class [WWC] that progressives ‘failed to connect with’ didn’t rally behind Trump out of economic insecurity. I ‘d wager that virtually every member of DKos is working class, like me and my family— we have to work to pay bills, and I happen to be white. But Trump’s message didn’t speak to me, my wife, my kids. How come?
Progressives have a vision of what America is supposed to be, Trump and his supporters do not share it. Here’s how I framed it in a previous diary, in which I used the work of Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and his book Racism without Racists, to help understand the core motives of Trump voters:
The presence of diverse cultures has never translated to respect for that diversity by the dominant white majority, nor has the dominant white majority fully accepted the principles of an inclusive, pluralistic society, with equal protection of the law, equal justice, equal opportunity educationally and economically.
I don’t believe that conservatives have ever shared this vision of an inclusive, pluralistic America. That’s why they seceded, opposed civil rights for African-Americans, opposed suffrage for women, and fought marriage equality for LGBT individuals.The rejection of pluralism could not have been clearer in Trump’s statements, nor could the rejection of pluralism be expressed more clearly than through the act of voting for Trump.
If they don’t share this fundamental vision of America— an inclusive, pluralistic society— there’s no room for compromise.
And we must never compromise this conception of what America is supposed to be: an inclusive, pluralistic society, with equal protection of the law, equal justice, equal opportunity educationally and economically.
We do not need to be diverted with calls to ‘understand them better’. We understand them all to well. Progressives have understood what those that oppose equality are all about, for a very long time. We need to never forget who opposes the progressive vision for America, and fight them by any and all means we have at our disposal. We most certainly do not need to ‘meet them where they’re at’.
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Start by donating to the SPLC, and subscribing to its magazine, Intelligence Report.
Go to the Hate Map on the SPLC website, and see how many hate groups are active in your state. Make sure everyone in your life knows the true state of our country, and don’t let them make any excuses, or claim anything is a greater priority than opposing bigotry in all its forms.