Prologue

Congressional Republicans, from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and right on down, have assured us in no uncertain terms, that Trump is not a racist. As will be shown in what follows, there is a well-documented history that, au contrarie, says otherwise.

The 1970’s

The Trumps, both father and son, were on the losing end of a law suit in which they were charged with discriminating against African-Americans who had sought to lease apartments that the two owned and operated.

The 1980’s

In 1989, a young woman was raped in New York’s Central Park. A group of five young men, all members of one or another minority group, were charged with the crime. Trump, then a well-known figure in the city, spent about $85,000. in the process of running ads in local newspapers calling for the youths to be subjected to the death penalty. Subsequently, conclusive dna testing exonerated the alleged assailants, a fact that made no difference to Trump; i.e. he refused to do so much as acknowledge their innocence.

The 2000’s

There was no more visible public figure than Trump who championed the birther claim about then-candidate Barack Obama’s country of origin. Even after this was thoroughly debunked, Trump persisted, refusing to unequivocally accept Obama’s rightful eligibility to be president.

Then, after his own election, Trump played the “race card” again. This time with reference to a court ruling that went against him. His target? Judge Gonzalo Curiel who Trump described as “biased” because he is “Mexican”.

Most recently, there is Trump’s attack on the four Democrat members of Congress; all from one or another minority group. That this “squad of four” have each been outspoken in their criticisms of 45’s policies and even called for his impeachment has now been widely reported. Nonetheless,  policy differences are one thing, but telling people to “go back where you came from” is quite another.

End notes

The foregoing have touched upon some of the more notable, striking instances of Trump’s racism as it was on public display. No matter how vocal and numerous the denials, that history speaks for itself. If you are interested in an even more thoroughgoing inventory of Trump’s racism, check out the expose’ entitled “Trump’s Racism:  An Oral History of Trump’s Bigotry”. in The Atlantic magazine (2) that is cited below.

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1. French for “to the contrary”.

2.https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/trump-racism….588067/