Don't be Fooled, Trump is a Racist

The Spike Lee directed film called, The Blackkklansman, should be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is essentially not only the greatest “catfish” in the history of “catfishing,” but it should also be noted as the first ever “catfish.” For those that are not aware, “catfishing” occurs most often in online dating in which one, or both, of the courters is not who they purport to be on their “dating profile.” So, in other words, a male suitor may think he is courting a beautiful model, but in reality, the woman may be 300lbs or possibly not a woman at all. The sensation of “catfishing” has become so entertaining, to primarily high school students, that MTV decided to make a reality TV series entitled, Catfish.  This show basically follows around couples who have never seen one another in person, but only communicate to each other via some sort of electronic communication – dating app, Facebook, etc.

So now that the term “catfishing” has been thoroughly described, it is time to discuss how The Blackklansman could be so memorable, if it was essentially nothing more than an episode of MTV’s Catfish on steroids. It comes down to three parts: the objective of the “catfishing,” the technique that was used to execute the “catfishing,” and lastly, the significance that this “catfishing” still has, or should have, on every American.

The objective of the “catfishing” is pretty easy to comprehend – a black Colorado Springs police officer called, “Ron Stallworth” (played by John David Washington), is attempting to infiltrate and gather information on the local KKK chapter and prevent them from committing any crimes (which they eventually do). His technique to infiltrate the KKK was also quite simple, yet extremely difficult to execute. Stallworth simply called his local KKK chapter and spoke with the leader, whom Stallworth convinced to bring him in for a KKK meeting. In turn, Stallworth enlisted a white undercover police officer, named “Flip Zimmerman” who was ironically Jewish, (played by Adam Driver) to act as Stallworth, but in person with the KKK. Eventually Stallworth so well “catfished” the local KKK chapter he was eventually talking to the KKK’s National Director, David Duke, on a regular basis. At one-point David Duke told Stallworth, over the phone, that he knew Stallworth couldn’t be black because he can recognize a black voice (obviously David Duke thought too highly of himself).

One of the most moving scenes is when Stallworth is talking to his sergeant, who is the head of the police department’s intelligence unit, from a vacant stairwell in police headquarters.  The sergeant briefs Stallworth on how David Duke is changing the Klan’s motif. He insists that Duke wants to move away from a “violent based” organization to a political based organization. In other words, Duke wants to be able to nominate persons to political office who will pass “covert” legislation that would instill the KKK’s values. Stallworth replies by saying, “America wouldn’t let that happen.” Then the sergeant replies that Stallworth is too naïve.

The importance of this scene is that the KKK has successfully gotten their ideal candidate, not in state or local government, but into the highest office in the world. Let me be clear, as I do not want there to be any mistake, I am unequivocally calling the United States President, Donald J. Trump, a racist and a white supremacist. More importantly, Donald Trump has used the strategy that David Duke foresaw and which Lee Atwater, a Republican political strategist and adviser, for both the Reagan and H.W. Bush presidential campaigns, entitled as “the southern strategy.” However, Donald Trump essentially used this “southern strategy” not just on the South, but on the entire nation. Below is a 1981 excerpt from a Lee Atwater interview, which summarizes the southern strategy:

You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” – that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. . . But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me – because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this.” is much more abstract then even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”  (Lee, Atwater. The Two-Party South Alexander P Lamis. 8 July 1981. Document).

What is ironic is that Atwater explicitly states that simply being “openly” racists will “backfire” against the candidate. However, Trump has shot that assertion into the wind. Trump has routinely and openly chosen not to express disdain and disgust towards the white nationalist, who not only rioted and protested in Charlottesville, but that also murdered a counter protester in Charlottesville. Further, Trump has taken it upon himself to ensure that NFL players (who are predominantly black), who are protesting police brutality by kneeling during the National Anthem, are demonized as un-American. Trump wants to cut affirmative-action programs, for no other logical reason but to pursue his racist agenda. Finally, what is the biggest slap to America’s face is the fact that this narrow-minded, bigoted, babbling buffoon was elected after America had one of the brightest presidents to hold that office – Barack Obama. This shows that it is not ironic that a racist president, who’s only agenda item is to effectively erase every accomplishment his highly intelligent black predecessor was able to pass, was elected.

To make this story even sadder is the fact that racist behavior only persists if the institutions that govern the people are naturally racist. America boasts that because it is a democracy, its people hold the power.  Therefore, it is the people’s choice on how the institutions are run. In turn, racist institutions only persist if the people are complacent. Here in 2018 the citizens of the United States, and the finger should be squarely pointed at the Republican party, are complacent to racism against minorities. By electing a highly racist president, and then continually nominating, and in some cases electing, racist lower level politicians, Americans are providing their verdict that they are OK with racist government institutions.

So, for those Americans who voted for Trump, or any “Trumpian” lower level candidate, and then claim they aren’t racist and/or who believes the candidate of their choice isn’t a racist, you are being “catfished” worse than David Duke was “catfished” by Ron Stallworth in The Blackkklansman. Congratulations.