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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat Are Drumpf Fans Really ‘Afraid’ to Say?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/opinion/campaign-stops/what-are-trump-fans-really-afraid-to-say.htmlThe notion that Mr. Trump voices ideas that his supporters are afraid to express, vital truths lost to the scourge of political correctness, has been a rhetorical through-line of his campaign. Mr. Trump says exactly what he thinks, his fans gush about immigrants, about Muslims, about women a bygone pleasure now denied most Americans.
Its an odd construction. Once you say, He says what Im afraid to say, and point to a man who is essentially a 24/7 fire hose of unequivocal bigotry, youve said what youre afraid to say, so how afraid could you have been in the first place? The phrase is a dodge, a way to acknowledge that youre aware its a little naughty to be a misogynist xenophobe in 2016, while letting like-minded people know, with a conspiratorial wink, that youre only pretending to care. Its a wild grab for plausible deniability how can I be a white supremacist when Im just your nice grandpa? an artifact of a culture in which some people believe that its worse to be called racist than to be racist.
Trump fans are flattering themselves if they think that, say, declining to shout slurs at black people or sexually harass female co-workers is some form of noble restraint. Not only is that a pathetically low bar, many do not seem to be clearing it. Video of a Trump rally in Kentucky on Super Tuesday shows a student named Shiya Nwanguma being shoved and jostled. She reported being called a racial epithet as well as an abusive term for the female anatomy. Video from a North Carolina rally on Wednesday shows a white Trump supporter punching a black protester in the face. One glance at your worst relatives Facebook page, one toe dipped into the toxic sludge-fire that is pro-Trump Twitter, and its abundantly obvious that no one is holding much back.
Its tempting to declare that the Internet isnt real life, that online hate isnt a credible barometer for offline behavior. But human beings built the Internet, we populate it, we set its tone, and collectively weve designated it a major engine of discourse. Its been my experience that anonymity makes people more honest, more themselves. If you applaud the sentiment that when Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best, and theyre bringing drugs, theyre bringing crime, theyre rapists, from the mouth of a presidential candidate, why should I believe you arent saying worse in the privacy of your home?
Its an odd construction. Once you say, He says what Im afraid to say, and point to a man who is essentially a 24/7 fire hose of unequivocal bigotry, youve said what youre afraid to say, so how afraid could you have been in the first place? The phrase is a dodge, a way to acknowledge that youre aware its a little naughty to be a misogynist xenophobe in 2016, while letting like-minded people know, with a conspiratorial wink, that youre only pretending to care. Its a wild grab for plausible deniability how can I be a white supremacist when Im just your nice grandpa? an artifact of a culture in which some people believe that its worse to be called racist than to be racist.
Trump fans are flattering themselves if they think that, say, declining to shout slurs at black people or sexually harass female co-workers is some form of noble restraint. Not only is that a pathetically low bar, many do not seem to be clearing it. Video of a Trump rally in Kentucky on Super Tuesday shows a student named Shiya Nwanguma being shoved and jostled. She reported being called a racial epithet as well as an abusive term for the female anatomy. Video from a North Carolina rally on Wednesday shows a white Trump supporter punching a black protester in the face. One glance at your worst relatives Facebook page, one toe dipped into the toxic sludge-fire that is pro-Trump Twitter, and its abundantly obvious that no one is holding much back.
Its tempting to declare that the Internet isnt real life, that online hate isnt a credible barometer for offline behavior. But human beings built the Internet, we populate it, we set its tone, and collectively weve designated it a major engine of discourse. Its been my experience that anonymity makes people more honest, more themselves. If you applaud the sentiment that when Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best, and theyre bringing drugs, theyre bringing crime, theyre rapists, from the mouth of a presidential candidate, why should I believe you arent saying worse in the privacy of your home?
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What Are Drumpf Fans Really ‘Afraid’ to Say? (Original Post)
KamaAina
Mar 2016
OP
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)1. Good grief. Of course.
How many times have I seen or heard some stupid bigot writing an opinion piece in some stupid Murdoch publication, or blathering on the teevee.or internet that "...you can't criticize Islam. You can criticize Chritians but you can't criticize Islam."
Fuck! I think they might actually believe that. I don't know.
Obama is the cause of the recent rise of overt racism, which of course originates entirely from minorities and POC.
Bust up Trump rallies if you can, I say.
UTUSN
(70,671 posts)2. Their attack on "political correctness" is code for racism, bigotry. Used to be "Silent Majority".