Appearing above the fold in the Nation and World section of the Feb. 7 ADN was news of Donald Trump’s latest racist tirade. The tone of the article led one to believe that Trump expressing racist tropes is a commonplace occurrence that is known to many and is reported routinely by the media. Even members of the Black community, who are targets of his racism, acknowledged Trump’s bigotry by seemingly passing it off as “just a rerun of what we’ve seen in our country.”
One group Trump called out as “vicious, horrible people” included several Black prosecutors, because Trump recognizes that white supremacists among his base are receptive to more overt racism. Trump claims his white followers don’t have a place in the future of America and he alone can carry the fight on their behalf. Even Michael Steele, the Black former chair of the Republican National Committee, admitted that “if he can race bait it, he will.”
On one hand, the article rather matter-of-factually described various insults Trump routinely shares with his loyal followers about the Black community, with no acknowledgement how this might affect his election chances. On the other hand, except for a few comments like Fani Harris’ concern that Trump’s rhetoric was “alarming,” the article did nothing to suggest his actions, his behavior and his decisions will serve to dissuade his followers from supporting him. Hopefully, enough of those “very fine people” on the right will have second thoughts about their votes come Election Day.
— Mike Jens
Anchorage
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