by Solomon Comissiong
European global expansion has been marked by white crimes against humanity for half a millennium. In the U.S. white settler state, non-whites and Muslims are profiled as potential criminals and terrorists. However, “if a white person carries out an act of domestic terrorism there is never a frenzied vilification of all white people within a certain age demographic or social marker.”
What if Most Trump Supporters Were People of Color or Muslims?
by Solomon Comissiong
“Whites fail to recognize the sheer carnage their community has violently levied upon global society.”
The United States is a nation littered with blatant contradictions and hypocrisy – especially its ongoing legacy of white supremacist hypocrisy. The US is a nation that has never felt it necessary to make amends for its long legacy of white supremacist and barbaric actions against people of color. After all, how can any nation honestly say they are remorseful for chattel slavery, genocide and terror when their society continues to extol the lives of many of the people who carried out the aforementioned savagery?
It is hard to go a day without seeing the imagery (or names) of people like Andrew Jackson, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. These are merely three of many ruthless Euro-Americans whose names or likenesses are featured on everything from currency, the names of cities and schools. Even though they are white men who have been dead for a very long time, their actions laid much of the foundation for what continues to happen within US society.
White supremacy has destroyed lives throughout the United States’ manufactured borders – and far beyond. But US society has rarely mass demonized or racially profiled white/Euro-Americans. Perhaps that is because US society is little more than a white settler colony, in which the oppressor continues to write the rules and narratives; thus the hypocrisy is pervasive.
“Trump’s rallies are like circuses featuring a menagerie of volatile racist characters.”
Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy has not only mobilized millions of already racist white Americans, it has highlighted blatant contradictions that are anchored within the filthy waters of white supremacy. Trump’s rallies are like circuses featuring a menagerie of volatile racist characters. His cultish followers have been seen attacking any non-believer to Trump’s (and their) xenophobic views. Whether it is punching an African/black man in the face or viciously shoving an African/black woman, nothing seems to be too low for their barbarity, including the free flowing use of racist epithets such as “nigger.” Recently a Trump supporter, John McGraw, not only punched an African/black man in the face, he stated, “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.”
However, one of the most blatantly hypocritical things regarding Trump’s white followers is that they are never profiled. Most of Trump’s followers are white. They do not represent all white people, however if this were a movement involving African/black people and/or Muslims, there would be nationwide focus on those demographics, just as Muslims and African-Americans are profiled and demonized today. The irony is that most of this demonization of entire populations of people has come from whites. These whites that place such racist and stereotypical labels on Africans/blacks, Muslims, and people of color in general, fail to recognize the sheer carnage their community has violently levied upon global society. They are either too intellectually dishonest, or too clouded by their white privilege, to recognize the irony of their hate.
“No matter how long the legacy of white crimes against humanity, they are treated as isolated incidents.”
If a white person carries out an act of domestic terrorism there is never a frenzied vilification of all white people within a certain age demographic or social marker. Whether it was the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, the Newtown massacre or the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting, the white people carrying out these evil acts are rarely ever referred to as terrorists. And there certainly is never a nationwide protocol that racially profiles white males. No matter how long the legacy of white crimes against humanity, they are treated as isolated incidents. The hypocrisy is international in scope.
The United States and other mostly white Western nations have destroyed the lives of millions upon millions of people, upending their societies. Today’s most blatant examples are Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This is recent history, however when we look deeper into the annals of history we will see the barbaric mass carnage that has been carried out by white (mostly Christian) people, dating back hundreds upon hundreds of years.
Throughout the Western Hemisphere (the Americas) Europeans/white people have maimed, massacred, butchered and raped millions of indigenous people. They killed millions more with disease, in some instances giving smallpox riddled blankets to Native Americans. This was all done in their conquest to plunder the land and resources of other people. They were force-fed European languages, religion and customs that ultimately eviscerated their once prosperous (and sustainable) ways of life. This also happened throughout the African continent as Europeans brought death and destruction on scales never seen before. For instance, King Leopold of Belgium had his men kill at least ten million Africans in Congo, including chopping off the hands of adolescent boys.
These are all facts, yet why no mass profiling of “whiteness” or “Christians”?
“Imperialism continues to ravage, destroy and decimate entire nations of people, mostly people of color.”
These crimes occurred under colonization and chattel slavery; today it is neo-colonization and the prison industry complex. Imperialism continues to ravage, destroy and decimate entire nations of people, mostly people of color.
Not all white people are responsible for the carnage described throughout this article. However, why are the acts of a small group of Muslims packaged as something in which the vast majority of people of that faith are now profiled as “terrorists”? And there is never any context explaining (not justifying) the United States’ role in fomenting negative sentiment towards Americans by Muslims throughout the globe. Never any contextual backdrop explaining the CIA term of “blowback” against what the US has historically done to various nations, dating back several decades. The same goes for almost every population of people of color who have been subjected to white supremacist violence, terror, and colonization. The white people who control the media, government and educational centers are also the ones who created the false narratives and propaganda.
White supremacy should be categorized as nothing less than a vicious and destructive social plague. It must be studied and deconstructed, with an aim to eradicate it from the face of the planet. Doing so would save countless lives and heighten humanity’s chances for peace and prosperity. There are many white people who are opposed to white supremacy, however there need to be many more. It is they who must be willing to immerse themselves within white communities, thus educating other whites (especially children) about the evils of white supremacy, so that people like Trump can be isolated and marginalized. However, since this has not happened, Trump’s popularity continues to rise, as do racist sentiments, whether conscious or unconscious.
Movements like Trump’s exist because the United States of America has long been fertile breeding ground for white supremacy and xenophobia. It will only end when structural justice is woven into the fabric of US society. We all play a role, however our actions must be collective and they must be revolutionary. Peace and prosperity, for all, depend on it.
Solomon Comissiong (www.solomoncomissiong.com) is an educator, community activist, author, and Founder of the Your World News Media Collective (www.yourworldnews.org). Solomon is the author of A Hip Hop Activist Speaks Out on Social Issues. Solomon is also the writer and producer of the documentary, Hip Hop, White Supremacy & Capitalism: Why Corporations Infiltrated RAP Music. He can be reached at: [email protected]
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