The Real World Consequences Of Trump’s Racism
Trump's Anti-Black, Anti-Haitian Propaganda Is Harming Real People
![[Springfield and Dayton police officers outside the City Hall building following an evacuation due to a threat Thursday. Bill Lackey, staff photographer, Springfield News-Sun]](https://otb.cachefly.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-12-at-12.03.20 PM.png)
I had hoped that this morning’s collection of random thoughts would be the last I would publish on the racist and xenophobic attacks being led by the Trump Campaign (and in particular J. D. Vance) on the Haitian migrant community in Springfield, Ohio. Then, earlier this morning, news came of the bomb threats. From the Springfield News-Sun:
Springfield City Hall was evacuated around 8:30 a.m. Thursday following a bomb threat “to multiple facilities throughout Springfield,” according to a city statement released Thursday morning.
Drivers license bureaus in Clark County were also closed Thursday morning in relation to the threats, according to Clark County Clerk of Courts Melissa Tuttle.
And parents of students at one Springfield school said they were told to pick up their children. A police officer outside Fulton Elementary was seen telling concerned parents that their children had been moved to Springfield High School. Springfield City Schools issued a brief statement at 10:40 a.m. Thursday.
“Based on information received from the State Fire Marshal, Fulton students were evacuated from their building to Springfield High School this morning,” school officials said. “Students and staff are safe; however, the district is in the process of a controlled release to safely dismiss students to their parents.” [Source]
So far it appears that the bomb threats were all hoaxes. But the mental and emotional trauma connected with them isn’t–especially in an age where mentally unstable people attack places like schools on a basis so routine that J. V. Vance recently called it “a fact of life.”
Fuck J. D. Vance.
Seriously. Fuck him. Fuck him for embracing racism for political opportunity. Fuck him for continuing to spread disproven rumors.
Fuck former President President Trump for likewise embracing these rumors and recklessly sharing them on the National Debate stage to activate his base. “I heard it on TV” is not an excuse for making those statements. It also ignores how his VP candidate and his media surrogates are continuing to spread those rumors. This is not an accident. It is very much intentional racism.
Fuck them, and the MAGA movement supporting them, for ignoring the pleas of a grieving family to not politicize the tragic death of their child:
“Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose,” Nathan Clark said Tuesday evening, with his wife at his side, during a public meeting in Springfield, Ohio. “And speaking of morally bankrupt politicians, Bernie Moreno, Chip Roy, JD Vance and Donald Trump. They have spoken my son’s name and use his death for political gain. This needs to stop now.” [source]
And it’s not just the pain of one family. The Haitian migrant community in Springfield feels under attack:
The morning after former President Donald Trump repeated racist claims about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, some Haitian families are keeping their children home from school for their safety, according to an area activist. Those who allowed their children did so, but with heavy hearts.
“She [my niece] was scared, but I told her to go, that God would protect,” said one Haitian resident, who asked that she not be identified publicly for fear of reprisal.
“We’re all victims this morning,” said the woman, who moved to Springfield six years ago. “They’re attacking us in every way.”
Aside from the anxiety caused by Tuesday night’s debate, the woman also said her cars have been vandalized twice in the middle of the night. She woke up one morning to broken windows and another to acid thrown on the vehicle. She’s added cameras to her driveway and tried to report the incidents to the police to no avail.
“I’m going to have to move because this area is no longer good for me,” she said. “I can’t even leave my house to go to Walmart. I’m anxious and scared.” [source]
This is, of course, the goal of these sorts of ethno-national movements. We saw it with the KKK. We saw it with the Nazi purges of Jews and other degenerates. We saw the role that mass media played in the Rwandan Genocide.
The pattern is the same and can be seen in J. D. Vance’s tweet from a few days ago:
In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.
Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here. That local health services have been overwhelmed. That communicable diseases–like TB and HIV–have been on the rise. That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don’t know English. That rents have risen so fast that many Springfield families can’t afford to put a roof over their head. Here is Kamala Harris bragging about giving amnesty to thousands of Haitian migrants.
If you’re a reporter, or an activist, who didn’t give a shit about these suffering Americans until yesterday, I have some advice: Spare your outrage for your fellow citizens suffering under Kamala Harris’s policies. Be outraged at yourself for letting this happen. [source]
This fits into is a well-established rhetorical pattern designed to dehumanize opponents. You make up dehumanizing lies (like the eating of pets). You dehumanize them by linking them with crime. You dehumanize them by calling them disease carriers. And ultimately, you blame the suffering of Real Americas(TM)/Germans/Hutus (aka “Us”) on those migrants/Jews/Tutsis (aka “Them”).
This isn’t history. It’s happening RIGHT NOW and RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES. And it’s intentionally embracing evil, without regard for the consequences, in order to achieve power.
A final note: if you reader wonder if this article is directed at you, let me assure you it is.
If you have shown up on this site in the past and attacked us liberals for criticizing Trump unfairly (Jack and TheRyGuy) then let us know if you think this is an unfair attack. If you reflexively fall back on “the evil Democrats were the founders of the KKK” (JKB), show up and defend the actions of Trump and his followers in the present moment.
The last thing I’ll say to all of the Trump-leaning voters reading this: your silence on this topic is deafening. I suspect–or at least hope–that you realize this is undefendable behavior.
I only hope that same vague sense of shame stays with you until you decide to cast your vote. Perhaps, just perhaps, there’s still enough good in you to understand that whatever tax cuts or policy preferences you think Trump will deliver are not worth the racist actions he took (and will take) to try to win this election.
[Thunderous applause!]
Fuck yeah, Matt!
Co-sign. This whole episode is just horrific. F * ck J.D. Vance.
Something that I felt wouldn’t fit in this but should be called out: Let’s not forget that J. D. Vance is married to the daughter of Indian Immigrants. He has mixed-race children. And he still knowingly harnesses and evil that, when push comes to shove, will not pass his family over.
Usha Vance can make her own decisions about having a husband willing to use racism to achieve power. I feel very sorry for their children who will be caught up in this mess and will be dealing with it in the future.
Hurt people hurt people–both those they don’t know and those they (think) they love. It’s an awful intergenerational cycle. It also cannot be seen as a defense of taking evil actions.
@Matt Bernius: There is a very broad streak of racism that can be summarized as, “you’re bad unless I say you are good”. It’s very common. It’s probably where Usha and JD are on this. I mean, it’s not as though India doesn’t have a caste system, which is probably at least as toxic as racism in the US.
Thank you, thank you!
Makes me wonder if Mrs. Vance has raised any objection to what her husband has been saying. Or whether she’s raised a stink and he’s said “Look, honey, you know I’m only saying these things about Those People. I’d never say it about you.”
Guess what sucker? When the anti-immigrant mob comes sweeping through your neighborhood, they’re not going to care. You look like you’re someone with a darker skin? You’re going to get treated the same as Those People, no matter what.
The outrage is that what Vance and the GQP are doing is having the effect they intended.
And it’s not done yet. Look for similar attacks and troubles first in other areas with Haitian communities, like Florida, and then among all and any immigrant communities all over.
It’s like what happened in several Crusades. The fervor against Muslims occupying the holy land reached such a fever pitch, that all too many people in Europe wanted to hurt Muslims. As there were few, and going to the Middle East with an army wasn’t something everyone could do, they turned on the Jews that lived in communities of varying sizes all over the continent.
Counting down the seconds until this is called a false flag operation …
@Franklin:
A mental exercise:
1. Let’s say the bomb threat was actual a false flag–there is no evidence it is.
2. Does that some how absolve Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, and MAGA as a whole for using/exploiting racism to create the conditions that allowed the false flag to happen.
I don’t think it does from a moral perspective. We could get into a Brandenburg discussion about legal culpability, but that’s a different discussion.
And even if we absolve them of direct responsibility, it doesn’t diminish the fact they are intentionally using racism for political and power gain.
Thank you for dropping your typical, admirable even-handedness to put the proper contempt on these stories.
This goes doubly for all the GOP politicos who have refused to stand up against their party’s MAGA capitulation. It’s time for Romney, Haley, Sununu, and other Republicans trying to maintain their claims to decency to follow the path laid by the Cheneys, Kinzinger, Duncan, and Giles to publicly pick what kind of country this will be. Silence is indeed deafening and it indicates acceptance.
@Matt Bernius:
The plea from Aiden Clark’s poor parents can’t be a false flag. Though less violent than a bomb threat, the treatment of their family for political and power gain is much more indefensible to my mind. Direct abuse of a specific family’s tragedy against their wishes. Truly deplorable.
My God. Vance’s tweet is 100% pure, unadulterated, undiluted fascism.
They’re not even trying to hide it. They are fully, openly fascist now.
Well said, Matt, and that to all three posts.
Well said, Matt. And I fear necessary to a wider audience than is available to us. In Republican sites I see belief that the smears are true and Chris Rufo, the ethnic entrepreneur who made CRT in grade school a cause, is offering a cash reward for “hard” evidence to support Vance on Springfield. I imagine some MAGA will offer “proof” and then our MSM will debate the important question of whether pets are really being eaten in Springfield.
One more reflection. It’s now become normal for MAGA folks to say George W. Bush was a bad president. Yet, for all of his many, many flaws, one thing I will credit Bush for was his work to prevent collective blame of Muslims in the wake of 9/11.
Could he have done more? Yes (including not using 9/11 as a pretense to invade Iraq).
That said, can anyone imagine Trump or Vance taking similar steps if placed in a similar position? Of course not. And anyone who think they would, based on the evidence we have on the table, is lying to themselves.
Lying to yourself is an option–much like pretending that what is happening in Springfield isn’t really happening. But if you choose to do that, don’t expect us to accept it and somehow grant you absolution for your tacit support of evil. And don’t fancy yourself smarter or above the rest of us in your comments.
@gVOR10:
You mean the guy who, after assuring us that there are students who identify as cats who get their own litter boxes and that’s why CRT is bad, now admits its an urban legend? LOL who could have guessed?
That lying propagandist asshole?
Fuck him too.
And fuck his supporters, again who are too afraid to say anything at moments like this one.
When will someone have the guts to say that Trump is a senile, babbling, conspiracy-ridden fruitcake who shouldn’t be let out of a padded room, let alone be the Republican candidate for POTUS?
(Loomer seems to be off the leash and is making nasty comments about everyone. Has outright accused Lindsey Graham of being in the closet. Drag out the popcorn!)
@Kathy:
Yes, this. Mitt Romney ran on “self-deportation” 12 years ago and the current MAGA supporters are just super-charging the idea.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly certain you’ve got the Rwandan players mixed up here. The Tutsis were the group targeted for extermination (though there have been several ethnic conflicts between the groups previously, but nothing like 1994).
Your quote from Nathan Clark is missing some of the strongest statements. This is what the father of the boy who was killed in a traffic accident by a Haitian immigrant said:
It goes on for a bit.
https://fox8.com/news/aiden-clarks-father-said-he-doesnt-want-his-sons-death-to-be-used-for-political-gain/
(Fox link chosen for our right wing friends)
@Pete S:
Vance and his master can then borrow a page from Ferdinand and Isabella’s apologists, and claim they are rounding up and expelling immigrants for their own protection, seeing as somehow they’ve become targets of violence lately.
@Grumpy realist: About the same time as people who will vote for Trump will give a rat’s a$$ about what the “lame stream media” and “socialists who hate our country” say about anything.
I hear there may be up to 300,000 eligible Haitian-American voters in Florida, where Sen. Rick Scott’s polling numbers are not so great right now.
Kamala Harris and Jamie Harrison, if you’re listening…
@Phoebe B:
You are totally right! Thank you for that correction. I will fix that later tonight!
Here’s the thing about Vance: I don’t think he’s racist. I obviously can’t peer into his heart but he’s never given me that vibe. But I *do* think he is an absolutely unprincipled power-hungry man who will do anything and say anything that he thinks might benefit him. He is promoting this garbage because he thinks it will help with his electoral prospects. And also that it will make his boss happy.
In the end, whether he is a racist or not doesn’t matter, of course. Rule of Goats applies. But I think we need to see Vance for what he is: a man whose only concern is himself. In that sense, he’s a perfect match for Trump.
@Hal_10000:
Generally speaking, I agree. Which is also why in recent years I find it much useful to evaluate actions versus people’s intent for racism.
In my opinion there is functionally no difference between a real racist who does something racist because they believe in their actions and someone who isn’t racist and does the same racist thing in the name expediency.
Intentions matter far less than impact, especially as the stakes are raised
@Hal_10000:
Almost like racism might equally be about power over others rather than a rational conviction in the truth of an idea. Americans might want to believe in the good faith of terrible ideas, and the use of the ideas by cynical and amoral people, but the truth is that it’s all the same. The racist believes in nothing and has no convictions, and the one who is just using racism believes in nothing, and they are identical humans being in all ways.