There's a fair amount of buzz over Trump's speech in Poland on Thursday, mostly stemming from a tweet by Caribou Barbie:
If you haven't heard about the "fourteen words" thing, don't feel bad: I hadn't either, but then, I don't follow white supremacist sites. Nancy Goldstein's response:
Betty Cracker looks a little more deeply into Trump's speech:
It should be no secret -- although it seems to have been soft-pedaled by the press lately, who are more concerned with documenting Trump's daily atrocities -- that a big part of Trump's appeal was to the racist contingent in white America. Sadly, it's a strain that's always been with us. (I'm sure I've remarked on what seems to a a hard-wired tendency among social animals to see the world as "us/them" -- group identity is very important in sociality, and has value, but we're supposed to be smart enough to think our way past that -- or at least, expand our definition of "us".)
It's all about dog whistles -- "in group" rabble-rousing. It's no coincidence that hate crimes and racially/ethnically motivated confrontations have risen sharply since the advent of Trump.
Welcome to Trump's America.
Trump Gives Speech to the People of Poland, Says 14 Words That Leave Americans Stunned https://t.co/8iKHEQemn9
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) July 7, 2017
If you haven't heard about the "fourteen words" thing, don't feel bad: I hadn't either, but then, I don't follow white supremacist sites. Nancy Goldstein's response:
"14 Words"= most popular white supremacist slogan in the world: "We must secure the existence of our people & a future 4 white children." https://t.co/0hUsMEdaSd
— Nancy Goldstein (@nancygoldstein) July 7, 2017
Betty Cracker looks a little more deeply into Trump's speech:
But the speech’s content deserves attention because of the worldview it reveals — a Bannonite dystopia in which white Christian countries are besieged by hordes of brown heretics. That vision flew mostly under the radar because Trump used “the West” as shorthand for white folks, and people interpret the phrase in different ways. But the message was clear and chilling if you’ve paid attention to the garbage ideology white nationalists allied with Bannon have pushed with varying degrees of success worldwide.
It should be no secret -- although it seems to have been soft-pedaled by the press lately, who are more concerned with documenting Trump's daily atrocities -- that a big part of Trump's appeal was to the racist contingent in white America. Sadly, it's a strain that's always been with us. (I'm sure I've remarked on what seems to a a hard-wired tendency among social animals to see the world as "us/them" -- group identity is very important in sociality, and has value, but we're supposed to be smart enough to think our way past that -- or at least, expand our definition of "us".)
It's all about dog whistles -- "in group" rabble-rousing. It's no coincidence that hate crimes and racially/ethnically motivated confrontations have risen sharply since the advent of Trump.
Welcome to Trump's America.
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