4 ms·

The group of people protesting in Charlotte were chanting blood & soil and carrying confederate flags. Anyone joining in that protest, is explicitly supporting

The group of people protesting in Charlotte were chanting blood & soil and carrying confederate flags. Anyone joining in that protest, is explicitly supporting that cause by being in that protest. That makes the entire crowd complicit in white nationalism. Trump's claim is that these people who are happy to protest in a coalition of white supremacist and neo nazis are very fine people and not themselves white supremacists? It's absurd. The Charlottesville protest was a racist, bloody affair that ultimately resulted in a counter protested being killed after a white supremacist drove their car into the crowd of protestors. But, Trump felt it was very important to defend the protestors and in particular defend Robert E Lee, a man responsible for leading the war to keep a state's rights to slavery. The idea that this is somehow not racist and Trump is a man of equality, is again, absurd.

Consultant32452 6y ago
Again, if you watch the full context he speaks to this. Trump believed there were people there who simply supported the statues. If he was wrong about that, it doesn't take away from his clear, full throated condemnation of neo-nazis and white supremacists. It means only he was incorrect about who all attended.
- hilbertseries 6y ago
  I addressed both of these points in my comment. Protesting the removal of a statue commemorating Robert e Lee is fundamentally racist, Trump defending this is racist. Equivocating it with Washington is an absurd statement that lacks any historical context or nuance. And again Trump the thinking that it’s okay to protest and give support to Neo nazis by protesting with them, is a racist incredibly privileged stance to take. How do you watch this speech and come away thinking Trump is not racist here? I will fully agree that tearing down a statue of Ulysses Grant is ridiculous. But Robert E Lee was a man who was willing to lead a nation into a civil war for the right to own black people. And Trump thinks the people who want a statue to this man to commemorate him are very fine people?
  - Consultant32452 6y ago
    Some people believe that over time symbols can come to mean different things than they meant when that symbol was created. When people tour Dachau they are not exhibiting support for Nazis. When I was growing up in the South and all my black friends and schoolmates were wearing "No Fear" brand shirts with confederate flags on them, I doubt they were supporting slavery.
    - hilbertseries 6y ago
      I can easily explain both of those examples and why they’re left standing. I find it interesting that you do not explain why the Robert Lee statue is important to remain standing. And why “very fine people” think it’s so important that it’s worth protesting with neo nazis and members of the kkk. Which again, if you protest with members of the kkk, people carrying nazi flags and people chanting blood and soil, you’re not a good person. To your other argument, Dachau was never a monument to the Nazis. It was left standing as a testament to the horror of the Nazi regime and is a historical place. The Robert Lee statue was erected sixty years after the end of the civil war. And this statue was erected as part of the historical revisionist “lost cause” movement, that has tried to frame the south’s decision to secede from the union as just. So, the origin of the statue is racism, the man the statue represents is also racism. And this is entirely consistent with the kkk and Nazis protesting the statues removal. To compare this to a person of color who has reclaimed a symbol of hate, such as the confederate flag. Makes no sense. In order to make your argument you need to explain what the statue means to these people. And how that can possibly be worth it, given what this statue represents to people of color and the fact that they’re supporting Nazis and the kkk while protesting this.
      - Consultant32452 6y ago
        Here's a really simplified response that once I say it will probably seem obvious. People can be both stupid and/or insensitive without being racist. In fact, I would argue most people are stupid and insensitive regardless of whether they are racist.
- cmurf 6y ago
  Donald Trump has a long history of racial animus. Yes, he is a racist. The racist five year lie of birtherism he told before he was even a running for office, to delegitimize the first Black president, and the sitting president at the time of these racist and conspiratorial attacks. Trump's racial animus in the case of the Central Park Five, before and after they were exonerated, is well documented. Trump's racial animal in federal housing discrimination cases, is also well documented. And his dog whistles over the past six years, well documented. Yes he's a racist. I also won't give a pass to the deeply ignorant. They are demanding a right to be treated like foolish children, somehow innocent of the decision they're making to remain ignorant of the fact Donald Trump is a racist. I mean come on, of all the difficult things to do on planet Earth, admitting Trump is a bigot is difficult? Grow up. American society continues to give racists a pass. This includes Nixon's Southern Strategy as told by Lee Atwater in his 1981 interview. It's called plausible deniability. The idea some people are so ignorant they cannot be aware Trump is a racial bigot, and thus they can support a racial bigot while simultaneously denying they are one themselves. It's not believable. And I won't believe it. It's not my burden to take people's word at face value. Grow up. Stop being an infant, stop demanding that people treat you like you don't know better or can't know better. I am 100% confident there is a Republican out there you can support instead, who has all the boilerplate Republican policies you like, without the bigotry.

Consultant32452 6y ago

Again, if you watch the full context he speaks to this. Trump believed there were people there who simply supported the statues. If he was wrong about that, it doesn't take away from his clear, full throated condemnation of neo-nazis and white supremacists. It means only he was incorrect about who all attended.

hilbertseries 6y ago
I addressed both of these points in my comment. Protesting the removal of a statue commemorating Robert e Lee is fundamentally racist, Trump defending this is racist. Equivocating it with Washington is an absurd statement that lacks any historical context or nuance. And again Trump the thinking that it’s okay to protest and give support to Neo nazis by protesting with them, is a racist incredibly privileged stance to take. How do you watch this speech and come away thinking Trump is not racist here? I will fully agree that tearing down a statue of Ulysses Grant is ridiculous. But Robert E Lee was a man who was willing to lead a nation into a civil war for the right to own black people. And Trump thinks the people who want a statue to this man to commemorate him are very fine people?
- Consultant32452 6y ago
  Some people believe that over time symbols can come to mean different things than they meant when that symbol was created. When people tour Dachau they are not exhibiting support for Nazis. When I was growing up in the South and all my black friends and schoolmates were wearing "No Fear" brand shirts with confederate flags on them, I doubt they were supporting slavery.
  - hilbertseries 6y ago
    I can easily explain both of those examples and why they’re left standing. I find it interesting that you do not explain why the Robert Lee statue is important to remain standing. And why “very fine people” think it’s so important that it’s worth protesting with neo nazis and members of the kkk. Which again, if you protest with members of the kkk, people carrying nazi flags and people chanting blood and soil, you’re not a good person. To your other argument, Dachau was never a monument to the Nazis. It was left standing as a testament to the horror of the Nazi regime and is a historical place. The Robert Lee statue was erected sixty years after the end of the civil war. And this statue was erected as part of the historical revisionist “lost cause” movement, that has tried to frame the south’s decision to secede from the union as just. So, the origin of the statue is racism, the man the statue represents is also racism. And this is entirely consistent with the kkk and Nazis protesting the statues removal. To compare this to a person of color who has reclaimed a symbol of hate, such as the confederate flag. Makes no sense. In order to make your argument you need to explain what the statue means to these people. And how that can possibly be worth it, given what this statue represents to people of color and the fact that they’re supporting Nazis and the kkk while protesting this.
    - Consultant32452 6y ago
      Here's a really simplified response that once I say it will probably seem obvious. People can be both stupid and/or insensitive without being racist. In fact, I would argue most people are stupid and insensitive regardless of whether they are racist.
cmurf 6y ago
Donald Trump has a long history of racial animus. Yes, he is a racist. The racist five year lie of birtherism he told before he was even a running for office, to delegitimize the first Black president, and the sitting president at the time of these racist and conspiratorial attacks. Trump's racial animus in the case of the Central Park Five, before and after they were exonerated, is well documented. Trump's racial animal in federal housing discrimination cases, is also well documented. And his dog whistles over the past six years, well documented. Yes he's a racist. I also won't give a pass to the deeply ignorant. They are demanding a right to be treated like foolish children, somehow innocent of the decision they're making to remain ignorant of the fact Donald Trump is a racist. I mean come on, of all the difficult things to do on planet Earth, admitting Trump is a bigot is difficult? Grow up. American society continues to give racists a pass. This includes Nixon's Southern Strategy as told by Lee Atwater in his 1981 interview. It's called plausible deniability. The idea some people are so ignorant they cannot be aware Trump is a racial bigot, and thus they can support a racial bigot while simultaneously denying they are one themselves. It's not believable. And I won't believe it. It's not my burden to take people's word at face value. Grow up. Stop being an infant, stop demanding that people treat you like you don't know better or can't know better. I am 100% confident there is a Republican out there you can support instead, who has all the boilerplate Republican policies you like, without the bigotry.