Donald Trump’s history of racism has been documented. He has discriminated based on color re housing. He was a harping, loud voice against the wrongly accused Central Park 5. He is known for requiring black casino workers to be removed from the floor to suit his clientele. We know what he has said about Mexicans and Muslims. Yet Trump’s racism is underplayed on a daily basis. The general belief seems to be that he can correct an “erroneous” perception of himself as racist. That idea was certainly behind his taco bowl tweet and his visit to a black church, which were depicted as clumsy and possibly hypocritical, but not fatal. There is, however, one thing Trump refuses to do — disavow birtherism — despite his assumption of many different positions at different times on various issues.
So why won’t he disavow his stance on POTUS’ citizenship? Because birtherism is his basic call out to white supremacists. It’s the key to their attraction to Trump and his message — that our country really belongs to white people and the only way a black man could be president is by cheating. As long as Trump holds on to his birtherism, he can pivot or become a pretzel on everything else and his followers will still trust him, because they know his real agenda is white supremacy.
Much of the media is in denial and seemingly unable to grasp Trump’s core racism. The ongoing influx of white supremacists into Trump HQ is touched on, but not really described for what it is. Instead, euphemisms are deployed. “Alt-right” “hipster right” — these terms, created by a more sophisticated generation of white supremacists and willingly adopted by the media, help distract from and camouflage the racist meaning of Trump’s birtherism claim.
The reality is that the need for truth re Trump is not about liberals vs. conservatives. As long as decent Americans fail to see birtherism for what it really is — the ultimate dog whistle for white supremacists and Trump’s tell re the basis of his candidacy — we have left open the way back to a crueler, less civilized nation.
Public attention is now turning seriously to the upcoming election. This is the moment when Trump and his tell must be fully and constantly exposed for exactly what they are, without excuses or embellishment. Don’t let the media get away with using the euphemisms served up by white supremacists that are meant to lull us into thinking there is nothing more going on than a difference in political points of view. When they say alt-right, say white supremacist. When they say hipster right, say racist. When they mention Trump’s birtherism, say it’s his call for white supremacy. Adapt Trump’s “tell it like it is” mantra to “tell it like it is about Trump” — who he is and what he really stands for.