In countless collisions of color and creed, Donald J. Trump’s
name evokes an easily understood message of racial hostility. Defying
modern conventions of political civility and language, Mr. Trump has
breached the boundaries that have long constrained Americans’ public
discussion of race.
Mr. Trump has attacked Mexicans as criminals. He has called for a ban on Muslim immigrants. He has wondered aloud why the United States is not “letting people in from Europe.”
His
rallies vibrate with grievances that might otherwise be expressed in
private: about “political correctness,” about the ranch house down the
street overcrowded with day laborers, and about who is really to blame
for the death of a black teenager
in Ferguson, Mo. In a country where the wealthiest and most influential
citizens are still mostly white, Mr. Trump is voicing the bewilderment
and anger of whites who do not feel at all powerful or privileged.
But
in doing so, Mr. Trump has also opened the door to assertions of white
identity and resentment in a way not seen so broadly in American culture
in over half a century, according to those who track patterns of racial
tension and antagonism in American life.
No comments:
Post a Comment