1/14/21
It turns out, as if we didn’t know, that Trump supporters are racist bigots. I include Cruz, Hawley, and Boebert in that nefarious group. It’s way past time to forgive supporters of Trump who ignore his murderous racism because he’s anti-abortion, for example, or because he gives tax cuts to the wealthy. It’s way past time to apologize for a generalization about his supporters being racists. It’s time to choose sides.
I’m embarrassed to admit that four years ago during the Clinton–Trump campaign, I interceded in an argument between two students, the female a Clinton supporter enraged at her friend, the male Trump supporter. I suggested with what I then thought was magnanimous intellectual insight that the young woman supported Clinton even while disagreeing with some of Clinton’s positions. The same, of course, would be true of a Trump supporter. The young man smiled at me with relief. I was being logical; I felt good about succeeding at a teaching moment.
Or so I thought at the time. Now I see how wrong I was, and how identifying oneself as a professor in the academy can be a trap. Yes, a piece of my position was white, male privilege—no question. I blew it. What I should have said was that supporting Trump because you like his tax cuts but hate his racism is like supporting Hitler because you like his socialism but detest what he was doing to Jews, gays, and Gypsies. The “Hitler card” is a logical fallacy; I teach my students not to engage in these.
But we’re at the point where the similarity is relevant. Turns out there is a point at which playing the Hitler card is apt. So I stand by my assertion that supporters of Trump are racists. They admitted as much in Congress yesterday when they booed freshman Rep. Cori Bush after she stated that the Capitol riot of Jan. 6 was an example (as Trump himself is) of white supremacy.
The Confederate flag was carried into the Capitol riot. That tells us everything. A replay of the Civil War is their goal. And we know why the first one was fought.
I watched the impeachment debate with interest, then disgust. The Republican arguments were either a bleating plea for unity and healing (where were they when it came to the vote?) or real albeit coded threats that pursing impeachment would create more violence—echoing Trump’s words. They blamed the Democrats and played the victim, as momas’ boy bullies always do. The stink of hypocrisy was almost too much to bear. Have they no shame? One hundred and forty-odd members of the House supported the notion that the election was stolen, so we might dismiss them as insane. But alas for us; they get to vote on laws that govern all of us. The loonies really do run the asylum now.