We Don't Have Time for This

[babylonsister]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/coronavirus-trump-racism-970571/


March 20, 2020 4:23PM ET
We Don’t Have Time for This
Trump’s racism isn’t ancillary to his inept response to the coronavirus pandemic — it is part of it
By Jamil Smith

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I don’t think that Trump is searching for a “solution,” at least one that a public dealing with his crisis is demanding. We always have to view success in a different way for Trump, as for him that means breaking unions, closing borders, and taking other essential steps toward a nationalism rooted in white patriarchy. He hasn’t deviated from his pursuit of that endgame, even as he fails to meet the challenge of protecting Americans from this virus. That alone demonstrates how and why racism is inherent to his failure. When we hold him to account for it, it isn’t falling into a trap. It is bringing to the forefront an uncomfortable reality that has been physical for some and theoretical to too many. It is confronting an inherently American evil that needs to die.

This is especially true in this instance, when people in this country and around the world are targeting those of Asian descent with increased violence and harassment. People have stigmatized Chinatowns in various cities. A teenager here in Los Angeles was assaulted at school and falsely accused of contracting the novel coronavirus. A Cleveland woman was denied an Airbnb rental because of “local health advisories.” Journalists have spoken up on Twitter about being accosted on the street or, in a notable instance, reportedly having the phrase “Kung Flu” said to her face by a White House staffer.

Trump, with all of his deliberate ignorance, will continue to deny that he has anything to do with it, despite what experts have claimed and his past actions have shown. But especially given the setting — a presidential task-force briefing that ostensibly gives facts to the public — why is Trump not challenged to say how calling it the “Chinese virus” helps save lives? We have seen a correlation between Trump’s racist rhetoric and actions, and the spike in terrorist violence committed by white supremacists. Why would this be any different? Why isn’t he held to account for engaging in similar behavior during this deadly crisis?

He is as fundamentally disgraceful in this respect as the U.S. senators who sold stock once they were briefed on the coronavirus. Rather than exploiting the market to profit off the coronavirus, which we should also know if Trump has done, the president exploits our divisions to benefit politically. Both actions are fireable offenses.

Conservatives have won a victory in the economy of ideas when we regard addressing and ameliorating racism, to say nothing of refusing to promote it, as somehow ancillary to a federal government’s priorities. Trump’s racism is not a sidebar. It is part of the main story, essential to his overall collapse. We fail when we opt to let him get away with it.