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It’s true that Donald Trump is committing so many crimes and atrocities so fast that it becomes hard to keep up. There’s the war in Iran, the Epstein files, the wholesale destruction of the government, and the ruining of America’s reputation worldwide. So it’s a lot.
Nevertheless, as Rachel Maddow so thankfully pointed out in this week’s episode, one atrocity that doesn’t seem to be attracting quite so much coverage – or outrage – is Trump’s out-in-the-open attack on Black people. He’s not even trying to hide it, and I suspect that’s because he doesn’t think anybody other than Black people will really care. But as Maddow points out, Trump’s attack on Black Americans is an attack on Americans.
Keep in mind that Donald Trump’s history of racism against Black people goes back a long way, way before he was first elected President. During his first campaign for the presidency, which he won in 2016, Hillary Clinton, his opponent, brought the issue up during one of their debates. This was back when many of us still thought that being provably charged with racism and discrimination could actually be considered problematic for a presidential candidate. From NPR on September 29, 2016:
“During the presidential debate on Monday night, Hillary Clinton raised a 1973 federal lawsuit brought against Donald Trump and his company for alleged racial discrimination at Trump housing developments in New York.
“The Justice Department sued Donald Trump, his father, Fred, and Trump Management in order to obtain a settlement in which Trump and his father would promise not to discriminate. The case eventually was settled two years later after Trump tried to countersue the Justice Department for $100 million for making false statements. Those allegations were dismissed by the court.
“Donald started his career, back in 1973, being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination — because he would not rent apartments in one of his developments to African-Americans, and he made sure that the people who worked for him understood that was the policy,” Clinton said on Monday night.”
Several months after Clinton made her accusation, Trump was elected President of the United States.
About 15 years after Trump was sued by the Justice Department, Trump was calling for the execution of five Black and Latino young men who were wrongfully charged with a rape they never committed. Trump never apologized for the full-page ads he placed in major newspapers calling for the execution of those young men, even after they had been exonerated. From The Guardian, Feb. 17, 2016:
“Yusef Salaam was 15 years old when Donald Trump demanded his execution for a crime he did not commit.
“Nearly three decades before the rambunctious billionaire began his run for president – before he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, for the expulsion of all undocumented migrants, before he branded Mexicans as “rapists” and was accused of mocking disabled people – Trump called for the reinstatement of the death penalty in New York following a horrific rape case in which five teenagers were wrongly convicted.”
Now the Voting Rights Act has been completely gutted, effectively knee-capping Black voting power in many Southern states, such as Louisiana, where the Governor actually stopped an ongoing election after the Supreme Court handed down that decision, so that districts could immediately be redrawn to eliminate any Black majority districts in a state that is almost 1/3 Black.
But this is just the most recent.
· Broad rollback of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs Trump signed multiple executive orders targeting DEI initiatives in federal agencies, schools, contractors, and corporations. Civil rights groups and minority organizations argued these moves undermined efforts to address historic racial inequities and disproportionately harmed Black Americans and other minorities.
· Removal of DEI-related military and historical content During the administration’s anti-DEI initiatives, Pentagon websites reportedly removed or altered pages about groups such as the Tuskegee Airmen, Navajo Code Talkers, and women veterans. Critics described this as erasing minority contributions to American history.
· Federal pressure against race-conscious policies Trump’s administration pressured universities, contractors, and organizations to dismantle race-conscious hiring, admissions, and grant programs. Critics said this ignored ongoing racial disparities and disproportionately benefited white applicants and businesses. Supporters argued these policies restored “colorblind” standards.
This is not only a threat to Black Americans. This mentality is a threat to all Americans.
