Donald Trump has arrived to campaign in California, a solidly democrat state where the population is over 60% minority, mainly Hispanic. Trump is in enemy territory. The violent protests last night in Orange County is living proof that he is not welcomed in the Golden State.
Although beating up Trump supporters and vandalizing police cars cannot be condoned, it is nevertheless inevitable. As I write this, violence at another Trump rally in Burlingame is escalating. Regrettably, the anti-Trump violence will only get worse if he wins his party’s nomination. Again, I do not condone violence, but is it any wonder why he is so unpopular among Mexican-Americans and their non-Hispanic allies?
He has called for mass deportation of undocumented migrants; he has promised to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it; and he has vowed to start a trade war with Mexico and China because of trade deficits with those two countries. Hillary may be Nixon in a pant-suit, but Trump is Mussolini with bad hair.
Furthermore, Trump fails to recognize that the demographics in America is changing rapidly. According to a U.S. Census press release in August of 2008, of the nation’s children in 2050, 62% are expected to be of a minority ethnicity, up from 44% today. Approximately 39% are projected to be Hispanic or Latino (up from 22% in 2008), and 38% are projected to be single-race, non-Hispanic Whites (down from 56% in 2008).
Though Trump might do well in a whites-only enclave in Idaho or Montana, he simply does not mirror the ethnic diversity of the country as a whole even now. And his anti-minority rhetoric alienates him even more.
What’s a politically engaged Latino to do? First, become more politically engaged and encourage your fellow Latinos to do more to support the kind of candidates that represent Hispanic culture and values.
Second, make alliances with non-Hispanics that they may support issues that are important to Hispanics and to all minorities, and which should be important to all people; issues such as racism, white privilege, economic and social inequality.
Third, support progressive liberal candidates. They are your best hope in the struggle to achieve fairness in a rigged system run by Wall Street-backed promoters of systemic racism and anti-minority oppression.
Should Trump-—God forbid-—win in November, peaceful but vocal million-man marches on Washington should be monthly if not weekly occurrences. In this way, Congress will eventually have no choice but to impeach him for failing to live up to his presidential oath and constitutional duty to insure domestic tranquility.
The momentum is clearly on the side of the people. Trump is ignoring what Karl Marx so wisely stated: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please.” Yet Trump is trying to make history as he pleases, and he will fail. He is on the wrong side of it as is everyone else of his reactionary ilk.