11-14-2016, 02:03 AM
(11-13-2016, 09:25 PM)sally Wrote: What exactly has Trump said that is racist? I didn't keep up with it all so I may have missed it. Not denouncing the KKK doesn't make him racist by the way, it makes him smart. The KKK isn't going to do shit other than win him about 40,000 votes, why wouldn't he take it.
The reasons that I've most seen cited to make a compelling case that Trump is a racist are:
1. He was sued, settled (which he hardly ever does), and fined twice by the Fed for discriminating against blacks in regards to rental practices. Qualified black applicants, the government found, were often told a Trump Management complex had no availability when apartments were available for rent.
In one instance, a black man asked about two-bedroom apartments at Trump’s Westminster complex in Brooklyn and a superintendent told him nothing was available. The black man’s wife, who was white, then visited the complex and was offered an application for a two-bedroom apartment on the spot.
The government lawyers also interviewed several people who said executives for Trump Management discouraged rental agents from renting to black people. In one case, the government said the company’s comptroller instructed a rental agent to attach a sheet of paper that said "C" for "colored" to every application submitted by a person of color. ( More here: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/...ent-sued-/ )
2. For 7 years, Donald J Trump appeared on right-wing media as the king of the birther conspiracy theory, refusing to recognize Barack Obama as the legitimate president of the United States and instead implying that President Obama was a Muslim from Kenya planted to fuck over the American people. That, and his scripted Apprentice appearances, is how he amassed his core/early political supporters. He only reluctantly admitted that he knew President Obama was an American citizen after he won the 2016 primaries and was pressed to do so (years after both Obama's short and long form Hawaii birth certificates had been published). Racists love the birther conspiracy theory, and they believe it to this day. The U.S. has never REALLY had a black president, you see.
When Trump was finally forced to acknowledge Obama's legitimacy, he actually said that Americans should be grateful to him for getting Obama to do something never asked of any other President -- publishing his birth certificate for the public. This from the man who is the only candidate in 40 years not to produce his tax returns. The Donald never assumed that Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, or George Bush I or II were not legitimate presidents for not having published their birth certificates. It's a real mystery for those who aren't masters of the obvious as to why the difference. (One of many refs: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-tr...d=33861832)
3. Donald J Trump took out ads in all of the New York City papers pushing for the execution of the Central Park 5 -- five black and Latino teens who were charged with raping a white female jogger in Central Park. The teens were subjected to interrogation for hours on end by the 1980s' NYPD. They all signed confessions that night. They recanted their confessions when assigned public defenders, told the same story, and swore that their confessions had been coerced.
Despite no physical evidence against them and the presence of unidentified DNA, they were convicted and spent over a decade in prison. They were innocent, but I don't blame the jury; they don't always get it right and can only go off the evidence presented. Fortunately, the five men were exonerated after an incarcerated rapist confessed. His confession was validated and his DNA was matched to the crime scene and the victim. Donald Trump continued to insist they might be guilty long after their exonerations. (One of many refs: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016...e-new-york )
There's more, but it's all well documented and easily accessible. I'm not trying to convince you or anybody else that Trump is a racist; I'm just answering the question you posed. I have never personally labeled him as one because I have no proof of what's in Trump's or anybody else's heart and mind. I have the ability to draw objective common-sense conclusions based on facts, but I don't insist that my conclusions are facts (and I have zero interest in arguing whether Trump is a racist or not).
I do fully disagree with you that Donald Trump's refusal to denounce the KKK is 'smart' because were he to denounce the scum of the earth he would alienate voters / supporters. "Smart" is far from the word for it, in my view. Anyone who needs or wants the KKK in order to win is, by default, a loser, as far as I'm concerned.
John McCain immediately shut down a rally supporter who claimed Obama was a Muslim Kenyan plant when he was running against Obama in 2008. He didn't even have to think about it; it was basic instinct because McCain is a decent human being. During the 2016 primaries, Bernie Sanders immediately denounced all supporters using sexist attacks against Hillary Clinton. He told them they were not wanted or welcome in his revolution and that they should take a long effin' hike; because Bernie Sanders is a decent human being.
Accepting adulation and endorsement from the KKK without denouncement is passively endorsing old-school, vile, racist hate. It's (at minimum) indecent to do so, thereby putting people of color at increased risk, for political gain. That's not even debatable, in my opinion, so I won't debate it. We can just agree to completely disagree on that, sal.