It is all anectodal but at least one activist has taken on the task of recording as many of them as he can. If you're not familiar with Shaun King, click here to see the dozens of shocking and disturbing incidents that he is documenting on his Twitter page. It is Black America's worst nightmare come true.
So stop saying this is about people angry at the establishment. Don't tell me it's about the candidate the Democrats ran.
It's all about the vile candidate the right wing ran, and how he represents the dark underbelly of American values.
We have witnessed the backlash against 8 years of a black U.S. President. They've tried to get him for 8 years, and now they'll finally succeed by destroying his legacy brick by brick, starting no doubt with the basketball court he had built on the White House lawn.
Forget the absurd fallacy that this is about economic disenfranchisement. We can't ignore that Trump first rose to political prominence within the GOP BECAUSE of his attacks on Obama's 'Americanness,' demanding proof of his citizenship, and his university transcripts. Because no black man could ever attend Harvard without benefit of affirmative action.
Most of Trump and the GOP's base benefited significantly from Obama's economic, healthcare and social programs. They are significantly better off than when he took office. But 65% of Trump supporters polled still believe Obama is secretly a Muslim. 59% believe he was not born in the US. 20% say they disapprove of the 13th Amendment which ended the enslavement of black Americans. None of those things have anything to do with the economy.
The places in the U.S. where the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim sentiment is highest, are in the very states which have the fewest numbers of visible minorities, immigrants, and Islamic-Americans. So blaming job loss in a coal mine or factory in Kentucky on Muslims, or Mexicans when they are statistically irrelevant in the state, shows the fallacy of that theory.
A black president in the White House was the physical manifestation of their deepest nightmare. Hillary Clinton paid the price for being an Obama insider, who was seen as '4 more years of an Obama administration.'
John McCain and Mitt Romney, who Obama ran against, were decent human beings with differences of political and economic philosophy. They were not the type of candidates who added fuel to the dark inclinations of the masses. In fact, they openly repudiated supporters at their rallies who veered into Islamophobia and racist attacks on Obama. So Barack Obama never had to deal with a white nationalist, fascist opponent. If he had, the result likely would have been the same as this one.
To be sure, sexism and misogyny also played a significant role in thwarting Hillary Clinton’s seemingly inevitable coronation. We have borne witness to the incredulous spectacle of a pathologically lying man, who is facing 75 lawsuits, an impending trial on fraud and racketeering charges, and a December 16th trial for allegedly raping a 13 year old girl, being viewed as more trustworthy than a woman regarded as the most qualified Presidential candidate in U.S. history, who has been exonerated time and again in blatantly partisan investigations.
But to illustrate how race in this instance Trumps (yes, I did that) gender, we need look no further than the example of xenophobic, bigotry spouting Sarah Palin being embraced without reservation by the same Alt-Right base as Trump, who regularly filled arenas to genuflect in her presence. Also telling is that key to Donald Trump’s victory over Clinton, is the fact that he beat her amongst white women voters in almost every category. Black, Hispanic, and non-white women overwhelmingly voted for Hillary choosing gender over race. White women did the exact opposite, embracing racism over gender. This was an election that split clearly along racial lines.
White working class people are the biggest single demographic group in America. Trump pitched squarely to their deepest fears of losing their country and their values to those they see as 'other,' like no candidate in modern U.S. history.
The results of this election show the deep racial divide in America. Trump's rallies were as dark and hate-filled as anything seen during the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. The overt racists who openly supported Trump and yelled 'n***er' and 'kill the Muslim' about Obama, and 'hang the b***h' and 'throw her in jail' about Clinton found in Trump, a champion who gave voice to their ugly racism, hate, bigotry and misogyny, and normalized it, so they could come out of the shadows.
But even more instrumental in this result, were the closet bigots who publicly condemned Trump's divisive rhetoric, while secretly casting their ballots for him. These latter are the more insidious. The likes of former KKK Grand Dragon, David Duke, you can see coming. But the covert racists in positions of power and influence, trick you into a false sense of security. Into believing we live in a post-racial society, and that it is white Americans and Christianity that are under relentless attack.
The GOP will spend the next 4 years dismantling Obama's legacy to take America back to 'the good old days' - a place and time which no longer exists – if it ever really did. Trump cannot bring back the coal and factory jobs he promised. Those days are gone as surely as the telegraph machine and the VCR.
But when Trump fails to deliver on his promised jobs, they will still forgive him. Because at least he will have put visible minorities and immigrants (no, not the good ones like Melania or Trump's grandfather) back in their proper station. There are jobless white Americans on welfare, living in trailer parks, who still consider themselves superior to an uppity, Harvard educated black man in the White House. Their happiness is the epitome of schadenfreude - more tied to the despair of those they view as 'other,' than to their own economic prosperity.
Trump will 'Make America Great Again.' In repudiating the black president and vowing, with the support of the Republican majority Senate and House (and soon the Supreme Court), to wipe out Obama’s legacy, and normalize bigotry and intolerance. In their eyes he already has.
Bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia and white nationalism have won....again. Anyone who tells you anything different is p***ing on your head and telling you it's raining. Treat them with scorn… and open your umbrella.