OPINION: It’s more than Trump; it’s many of the neighbors, too

By Ivory Phillips

JA Contributing Editor

Daily, really hourly, many traditional media outlets, as well as Black and progressive media, report on actions and antics of Donald Trump that are illegal, shameful, embarrassing, and what many feel are un-American. 

Among these actions and antics are:

(1) Examples of graft, bribery, and corruption resulting in billions of dollars flowing to Trump and his family. 

(2) Using ICE and DOJ personnel to harass, arrest, and/or deport Hispanic individuals and to “occupy” certain blue cities. 

(3) Pardoning thousands of criminals merely because they support him politically, ideologically, or financially. 

(4) Unceasing efforts to place his name, face, or imprint on facilities all over the country. 

(5) Proposals and policies to help his wealthy friends and donors increase their wealth and lower their tax bills. 

(6) Initiatives to “go after” those whom he perceives as his political enemies. 

(7) Inaction to control inflationary costs for goods and services – some of which are increased through war, elimination of certain regulations, and imposition of tariffs on other countries. 

(8) Firing employees and closing agencies, crippling the federal government and hurting thousands of working class families. 

(9) Massive and continuous efforts to hide the Epstein files and other documents that might uncover even more crimes and corruption. 

(10) Efforts to control elections, who can vote, voting procedures, and composition of the voting districts. 

(11) Efforts to build-up and decide who composes law enforcement groups such as ICE and the military. 

(12) Efforts to do away with birth right citizenship and its equal protection provision. 

(13) An attempt to run for a third term, although he says it is a joke. 

 These examples can and most likely will increase as time passes because he is a dictator for whom a way to be reeled-in has not been found, thus far. All of this harms most people, including many Trump supporters. 

While all of this may and should be concerning to people professing to love democracy and human rights, what is even more concerning is the realization there are thousands who do not care about the transgressions and the stupidity so long as he enables European Americans to retain their power, privileges, and advantages. That is what this is all about. They supported Trump despite knowing who he was before the election. They apparently favor what he is doing racially; so much so the rest does not matter.

The United States of America was built on the idea that wealthy white men were the ones to have the power to rule. It took the genocide of Native Americans, fighting the American Civil War, and initiatives of Reconstruction, the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and the Civil Rights and Black Power movements to even make a dent in the white male hegemony. The relevant out-groups, with the assistance of the likes of Abraham Lincoln and the so-called radical Republicans, forced the matter of America becoming a multiracial democracy.

Apparently, what one can see today is that having a society wherein people are free and equal is not what many European Americans desire. They apparently prefer operating in an environment where their ethnocentric culture and views hold sway. They prefer not just to see themselves as different, but to have the privileges and advantages that go along with their ethnocentrism.

In that sense, Trump and his allies are Abraham Lincoln, Thaddeus Stephens, and Charles Sumner turned inside out. They are anti-democratic and anti-humanitarian. If and when one realizes that he/she can see, despite what public opinion polls show, Trump was elected not once but twice. What one can also see are thousands of our neighbors prefer Trump, with all of his flaws and baggage, because he is willing to stand strong when it comes to white supremacy. That reflects not only America’s original sin, it reflects where many European Americans stand today.

European Americans who do not share that racist position can show they are of a different breed by coming out strongly on the right side of the matter, again and again, despite the odds against them. Informed, enlightened, or awakened African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and immigrants from elsewhere can show their mettle by coming out in full force in favor of what is right, again and again, despite the odds or how they may be perceived by their flawed European American neighbors.