Friday marks two weeks since the inauguration and though we knew it would be bad, the shitstorm that has followed has been no less than a disaster of epic proportions. Trump’s cabinet appointments, executive orders and choice of candidate for the Supreme Court have shown that he has no interest in protecting the interests of the American people. It sometimes feels hard to keep track of all that he and his team are doing to dismantle our democracy. After all, they are moving at a dizzying, breakneck pace. But if we aren’t paying careful attention, we might also miss how they are attempting to pit the most marginalized communities against one another.
The recent executive order that halts refugee resettlement for 120 days (except for refugees from Syria which are barred indefinitely) and bans travel from 7 countries which have large Muslim populations is evidence of how the Trump administration pretends to act out of care and concern for some while directly harming others.
Section one of the order states that “the United States [will] not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry and hatred … or those who would oppress members of one race, one gender, or one sexual orientation.”
Trump’s attempt to couch this order in paternalistic, hollow concern for LGBTQ communities, communities of color, and women is both dangerous and insincere. It directly ignores the lived experiences of Muslims within those communities, falsely implies that Islam’s principles are inconsistent with equality and justice, and is in direct contrast with the hostility Trump, his administration, and his appointees have exhibited toward these communities domestically and abroad. It is also a clear attempt to exploit support for these communities in a way that obscures the order’s oppressive effect on Muslim immigrants and refugees.
If they were so concerned about members of a given race, they wouldn’t have built a platform on bringing “law and order” to the “inner-cities,” coded language that are racial dog whistles; mainly targeting blacks and other disrupters of the system.
"Law and order" is an archaic expression, from the Latin "lex et ordo." Over the course of American history, it's the cry that the people in charge have raised to confront the threat of violence bubbling up from below — whether as popular insurrections, public disorders, radical agitators or gangs. It was a phrase invoked to condemn the striking auto workers in Flint in 1936 and the demonstrations organized by Martin Luther King in Birmingham in 1963.
And of course, we know that they don’t care anything about the LGBTQ community, as is evidenced by Mike Pence’s stance on gay rights.
While he was in Congress arguing against marriage equality, Pence stated that being gay was a choice, and that "societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family." In short, Pence said that gay and lesbians being able to marry one another would lead to disastrous outcomes in society.
And need we revisit the president’s numerous comments about women? The ones where he has called certain women fat, ugly and judged them by their appearance? Or how about the one time where he was caught on camera saying that he grabs women he’s attracted to but doesn’t know by their pussies?
So, yes, it’s doubtful that they actually see this executive order as designed to protect members of a specific race, gender or sexual orientation. That is, of course, unless you are a rich, straight, white male.
Pay attention, folks. They will continue to undo the fabric of our country and dismantle our civil rights one by one, all the while employing an age-old tactic of pitting our interests in fairness and justice against each other.