Rioting is what’s going on for sure, because the definition of riot according to Merriam Webster is, a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd. However, the people inciting the riots aren’t necessarily the protestors and not every protest ends with a riot. Have you been seeing videos circulating of the way police have been treating protestors? Lest we not forget why these protests are happening. This started as a protest for George Floyd, and has evolved into a protest for all black lives. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery are the most recent names that come up when talking about homicidal police, but there are so many more lives we are fighting for. The protests are happening because law enforcement has not been upholding its duty to protect its citizens. People in uniform have been using it as a cover to terrorize black communities and kill unarmed black people with impunity.
Why Trump Is So Scary & The Affect of Words
Trump’s scary because he uses people’s fears and horrible racial prejudices to further his questionable agenda. Honestly, it’s hard to tell whether Trump seriously believes what he’s saying or is just pandering to the overtly racist fanbase he’s developed that has a downright insane allegiance. Just like I can’t tell whether or not Ann Coulter is a human or a cyborg sent to divide and destroy humanity.
The way he uses language to excite his crowds is expert, reminiscent of mob rowdiness or scary football hooligans. He never uses words too big like, “bipartisanship” or “cultural tolerance,” but breaks extremely complex ideas down into simple sentences, negating nuances of certain topics, like war and homeland security. There is this distinct “us vs. them” mentality perpetuated at his rallies and embraced by his followers.
There’s seemingly no room for logic when you see and hear divisive statements like:
When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. … And some, I assume, are good people.
Our great African American President hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore! (Twitter)
These are basically statements people say behind closed doors to their like-minded cronies, but are now made very public and given an international platform. Now, others who would have otherwise kept their embarrassing sentiments to themselves now feel confident in their ignorance, because, let’s face it, there’s strength in numbers. It doesn’t matter if these numbers are comprised of exasperated bigots.
Trump happily represents them because he knows they will vote for him. He knows the more divisive and pigheaded he is, the more popular he will become, because he’s attracting the masses of people who believe the reason for all the world’s turmoil rests on the shoulders of individuals who don’t look like them. Trump cradles the hearts of people who don’t understand the term tolerance, the people who happily dismiss facts to support flagrantly racist ideals, and the people who feel they have been “abandoned” by the “liberal” government. However, I usually don’t like making blanket statements like that because there are always exceptions, people who don’t fall into the bigoted mold Trump has created. I understand people are entitled to their own opinions and maybe there are other aspects of the Trump campaign that are appealing to less insane individuals, but honestly I haven’t heard anything from that camp that I would consider diplomatic or remotely beneficial to America as a whole.
What scares me more is they way he sees international affairs. This “us vs. them” rhetoric is nothing but detrimental to this nation that has so much healing and learning to do. In this world of misrepresentation and fear, Trump’s doing little to nothing to allay tensions. Him calling Obama a Muslim, as if being Muslim is something to be ashamed of, is downright horrifying when presented in the context of international relations.
The “us vs. them,” plainly, hate speech, is causing violent problems that the Trump campaign chalks up to “passion.” The events at his rally where a protestor was “passionately” beat up is a reminder of how powerful words can be and how careful these leaders need to be with their parlance. It’s this kind of justification that rationalizes violence which is just unacceptable. And though I hate to say it, it’s indicative of the crowd he’s attracted as well.
Honestly, if anyone can give me a reason why this man should be anywhere near the White House I would be surprised I would really appreciate it. I just don’t see anything good from him being in office and can’t understand why anyone would. Ok, I understand it but that doesn’t make it any less disheartening to know there are thousands, if not millions, of people with these cray cray beliefs.
**edit: I wrote this last week before he came out with another outwardly outrageously hateful proposition to ban all Muslims from entering the US. Now, I’m actually beyond disbelief and I thought I had an idea of how ugly it could get, but I was wrong.