via africacradle.com
On Tuesday, Donald Trump spoke to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and touched on topics such as African American’s stance in American society. As the candidate for the president of this amazing country, I suppose that Trump does have the right to reveal his position on touchy subjects like race and inequality, but that still doesn’t make his response any better.
Before I continue, I’d like to have a brief refresher on the nature of Donald Trump. In the past, the Republican nominee has been deemed a racist, and the validity of this claim seems to lie in mere perception. Some call Trump the racist, discriminatory bigot of our nightmares while others stand by the claim that he’s just the honest wake up call that America has been waiting for. Who knows, really. We can only go by what this gentleman has done in the past, and if we were to base our judgment on just that alone, then it’s not as promising as others would hope.
In the past years, Trump’s real estate company has been sued because of allegations of racial discrimination, he’s been accused of treating his black casino workers poorly, he refuses to outright condemn the army of racists that openly support him, he has questioned President Barack Obama’s nationality (if you can’t see what’s wrong with this, then that’s a whole other issue), he encourages islamophobia, he condoned the beating of a Black Lives Matter protester at his campaign rally, he repeatedly exploits his people of color supporters, and then there’s that whole thing with building the wall between Mexico.
Clearly, this man’s past is not the most inviting. It’s hard to believe that Trump can say anymore that would further upset the public, but again, he as proved me dead wrong. When O’Reily asked Trump if he had any message for the thousands of African Americans who believe that the system is rigged, who believe that it’s all just a game where the rules were made for us to lose, Trump responded by saying “There are certain people where unfortunately that comes into play … And I can relate it really very much to myself.”
And when asked if he could possibly understand the black struggle he said “I would like to say yes, but you really can’t unless you are African American. I would like to say yes, however.”
So, to recap, Trump has proclaimed that he is a victim of the rigged American system. Through slightly confusing terms he has said that he could even understand the struggle… even though he is not, in fact, African American. He, a straight white male, has gone through the same stuff as we have. I’m sorry, but I just can’t see how that can be true. Donald Trump has had a privileged childhood filled with posh private schools with a tuition that probably cost more than some houses. He has wealthy parents who paid for his future and paved the way for his even more privileged adulthood. His career was generously aided by inheritance and economic security. I doubt that Donald Trump ever had to work more than three jobs to just float above the poverty line. I doubt that he was ever turned away from any job position because of his skin color. I doubt that he ever had to beg for a mere interview. I doubt that he was ever ridiculed in a work environment because of his race. I doubt that he was ever continuously undermined because how could you ever trust what ‘people like him’ say. I doubt that his race came into play any time he was denied a pay raise or anytime his input was intentionally ignored just so someone else could say the same thing the next day. I doubt that he has ever had to experience the effects of institutionalized racism.
At what time during his political campaign was the system ever rigged for him? Was it the time where supporters applauded his sexism or maybe the time they studied your blatant racism like it was religion. If Donald Trump was black he would never in a million years get away with saying half the stuff he says. But because he is white and privileged, his comments suddenly deserve the respect and consideration that we were never given.
The system can never be ‘rigged’ against people like Donald Trump because they are the ones that built the system in the first place. They are the ones that deny job applications because ‘something about Daryl’s demeanor just doesn’t seem trustworthy’. They are the ones that continue to push this cycle of white supremacy in America because they just can’t bear to give up their spots in the top one percent.
It’s outright insulting to say that you can relate to being oppressed by a system that you benefit from. Donald Trump was already not doing so well in the black community, and instances like this are not helping his repertoire. When is it time to stop considering his statements as accidental word vomits taken out of context and start actually being concerned about the beliefs of a man that could be our new president?
