Trump’s Rise Is Part of a Long, Lamentable Tradition

Nell Irvin Painter
DECEMBER 9, 2015

Donald Trump’s xenophobia, his insults to the black president of the United States, his quotations from anti-Muslim and white supremacist sources, even his scorn for his competitors’ manhood do say something about American society, for these statements have made him a very popular man among a largely white section of a largely white party.

Trump’s rhetoric sets him squarely within a robust tradition in American public life, a public life that until very recently, white males monopolized and owned. And I mean a tradition as deep as democracy and republicanism, but not nearly so respectable ...

Anyone familiar with American white supremacy will recognize Mr. Trump’s pandering and the giddy support it inspires in people eager to wrest their country away from people of color, non-Christians (Jews as well as Muslims), and feminists. Actually, anyone in a bar frequented by large numbers of white men anywhere in the United States will hear similar carryings on—and worse. But tipsy good ole boys are one thing, and a billionaire running for president who tops most opinion polls is quite another.

If Trump truly does NOT speak for Americans, the well-organized protesters who disrupted his rally in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday have already shown the way to dissent. And if Trump truly does not speak for white Americans, masses of future protesters will be white.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/12/09/donald-trumps-america/trumps-rise-is-part-of-a-long-lamentable-tradition