GuitarStv
"You've indicated that you support a person who has regularly said and done overtly racist things. You've also indicated that you yourself are not racist, and are well informed (therefore are aware of the racism).
How do you square these two things away?"
I was trying to point out that implying that tens of millions of people support Trump because they are racist is wrong. If that many people are that overtly racist then President Obama would never have been elected, twice. The math just isn't there, unless you would like to hypothesize Obama somehow created a huge shift in racist thought and action.
Yeah, as far as Trump regularly saying and doing racist things I assume you are referring to calling Mexicans rapists, wanting a Muslim ban, wanting a secure border? Oh and Charlottesville?
It's been well-documented that many women get raped while trying to cross our southern border illegally. Think about it, these women and men btw, are at the mercy of illegal smugglers and criminals. Most people realize that he wasn't accusing every Mexican of being a rapist but trying to highlight that a lot of criminals cross our border illegally. I am sure you are aware of the many crimes committed by illegal aliens?
Trump didn't say that Mexican women are being raped while they try to cross the border illegally. He explicitly said that Mexican immigrants are drug dealers, criminals, and rapists.
"When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. 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"
You appear to be arguing that Trump is too stupid to coherently form his thoughts into words, and therefore made a mistake. That would be a more compelling argument if just the other day he hadn't said:
"With us, it's a lottery system — pick them out — a lottery system. You can imagine what those countries put into the system. They're not putting their good ones."
He has doubled down on the racist comments he made. Your excuses for Trump's racist comments don't make much sense coming from someone claiming not to be racist himself.
As far as a Muslim ban we must first distinguish that many races practice Islam so technically it isn't racism. It's probably going to be a person of color so I can see where people get confused. Again, it comes down to national security. If it is ascertained that certain groups of people from certain parts of the world are at a greater risk of harming our country than our president would be negligent in not heavily vetting or outright banning those groups. It's really that simple.
I know a lot of people wanted to make it an issue of a religious litmus test but it really comes down to potential terrorism.
"Since 9/11, no one has been killed in this country in a terrorist attack by anyone who emigrated from any of the seven countries," William C. Banks (director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism). So, no. This is not at all an issue of protection from potential terrorism. It has nothing to do with national security, or the recommendation to do this would have come from the agencies responsible for protecting the security of the US.
I don't agree with you that making laws to discriminate against people because of the religion they worship is a good thing.
I get that you aren't racist . . . just wonder why you support policies that will overwhelmingly impact people who aren't white, and that all evidence points to being completely unnecessary for "protection from terrorists".
Is Trump racist? I don't know what he thinks, and can only judge by his actions.
I mean, there are the fines that Trump paid before becoming president because he refused to rent rooms to black people and the court cases where the federal government found a pattern of preferential treatment to whites.
There's the time that Trump took out a full page add urging the death penalty for five black and Latino kids accused of raping a white woman (later turned out the kids didn't do it).
There's also this quote: "I think sometimes a black may think they don’t have an advantage or this and that. I’ve said on one occasion, even about myself, if I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I really believe they do have an actual advantage." where Trump indicates his belief that life is hard for people who aren't black. Trump continually demanded Obama's birth certificate. Trump lied that Obama “issued a statement for Kwanzaa but failed to issue one for Christmas.”
Trump took out anti-native American ads with messages like "Mohawk Indian record of criminal activity is well documented" when competing with a native casino. He has said that he believes native Americans in Connecticut are faking their ancestry "I think I might have more Indian blood than a lot of the so-called Indians that are trying to open up the reservations." Trump has regularly derided Elizabeth Warren for "lying" about her ancestry, calling her Pocahontes . . . even when asked to stop by native groups. (A later blood test turned out that Warren does have native ancestry.)
After becoming president, there's the fact that Trump said a Mexican judge was unfit to work because of his race. He said that immigrants from Haiti "All have AIDS". He said that Nigerians would "never go back to their huts" after seeing America. Trump has often retweeted white nationalists. Trump has retweeted multiple anti-Semitic images. Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio who made racial profiling of Latinos a regular part of his operation as sheriff. Steve Bannon was an important member of Trump's inner circle for a long time, and also the publisher of the white nationalist supporting Breitbart website.
This list can go on and on. As mentioned, I don't know what Trump's inner thoughts are, I can only judge by his actions. His actions show a long standing pattern of overt racism.