The Race Invasion into 2016 Elections

March 16th, 2016

Awake Goy

A protester is removed from a Donald trump rally.

During a National Press Club luncheon two historians discussed the state of race relations in the nation. They agreed that some of the anger shown by supporters of Donald Trump was caused by fear of a changing America.

Trump is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nominee. His campaign rhetoric includes negative comments about Islam, Mexicans, and women. Protesters at his rallies are increasingly met with violence.

“We are in a retrograde moment right now in which the dog whistles of race are with us,” said Ken Burns. “We’d like to believe in our better selves but in point of fact, a lot of us aren’t that,” he continued. Henry Louis Gates added, “Trump is speaking to a need and a deep set of fears within a large segment of the American community. Those fears need to be assuaged, and policies formulated to meet the needs of those worried about their future.”

Gates supports Secretary Hillary Clinton in the race for Democratic presidential nominee. He said he would advise her to study why some voters are so angry, why they are so inclined to anti-black, anti-Islamic feelings, and why they want a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border.

Gates also said he thinks President Obama underestimated the depth of animosity toward him. “I think he believed the narrative that a day of racial harmony had come. I don’t think he anticipated the depth of American racism and how much had not changed because a black man had been elected president.”

Ken Burns, a white American, is an Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. His current project, Jackie Robinson, which he co-directed is scheduled to air on PBS in April. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is an African-American, a Harvard University scholar, and host of the PBS show Finding Your Roots. He will host Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise on PBS this fall.