Coalition Against Trump Racism

The next phase of our struggle is to defeat Trump ideologically, not just politically. A vote for Trump is a vote for racism. Racism is the foundational principle of the United States of America. The country was forged in genocide and vicious racial oppression. White supremacy has been the modus operandi of the U. S. since the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving Massacre.

In the early 1600s, black and white indentured servants worked side by side in relative equality. In 1676, a landowner named Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion in Virginia that included both Black and white indentured servants and slaves, essentially (and ironically) demanding an invasion of Indian lands so they could divide those lands among themselves. It was at this point that the Colonial rulers and plantation owners created the racial caste system, which the ideology of racism, of white supremacy, maintains. The Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 codified this ideology. These codes accomplished the following:

·         Established new property rights for slave owners

·         Allowed for the legal, free trade of slaves with protections granted by the courts

·         Established separate courts of trial

·         Prohibited blacks, regardless of free status, from owning arms [weapons].

·         Blacks could not strike a white for any reason

·         Whites could not be employed by Blacks

·         Allowed for the apprehension of suspected runaways

We need an all-out ideological war against racism of any kind, especially that promulgated by Trump and his scary band of white supremacist supporters. “Law & Order,” really? Now there’s a dogwhistle phrase. And not just against Blacks. It applies to the progressive left as well, us.

The civil rights movement that began in the 60s at the very least made white people squirm at the accusation of racism. This should be our chant: Trump Equals Racism.

The Coalition Against Trump with a focus on racism should be led by Black Lives Matter and other organizations of color in the movement. It should include the Green Party and all of the groups like MoveOn, Color of Change, Democracy for America. Working Peoples Party. The Democratic Party. And whatever organizations (why not just one?) Bernie creates out of his campaign. The Coalition should be dedicated to exposing and opposing the racism of the Trump campaign but shouldn’t endorse any other candidate. It should develop educational materials and forums that talk about the history of racism and how it hurts white people as well by dividing us and cutting us off from the vast majority of the world’s people. It should address the following issues:

• Department of Justice investigation of all police shootings of people of color
• End the drug war immediately
• Release nonviolent drug offenders from jail immediately
• Invest in the Black and Latino communities, creating millions of jobs
• Stop relocation/gentrification processes in all cities
• Expand Medicaid in states that have refused to expand it
• Adopt a path to citizenship for undocumented people
• Support the Conyers bill investigating the feasablity of reparations for slavery and for the post-war discriminatory housing policies that have created the 13 to 1 ratio of white household wealth to Black household wealth