As an Atrocities Prevention Advocate, I know that Trump’s Rhetoric is Dangerous

I have spent most of my adult life as a genocide and mass atrocities prevention advocate. Working to raise awareness, advocate for policy changes, and to support civil society and diaspora members all with an effort to prevent the unnecessary loss of human life.

Given my experience, I wanted to share a few things about the racist in chief, Donald Trump, and the threat that he poses to the United States of America.

Mass atrocities, and more specifically targeted violence like genocide, do not occur in a vacuum. They do not spring up overnight. There is a long period of normalization that occurs prior to the violence.

Every country and context is different, but there are some shared experiences that almost always occur. There is dehumanization, othering, hate-filled rhetoric, and scapegoating. All of this is done to lay the groundwork for mass violence against a certain population.

It is a lot easier for individuals to carry out violence, or accept violence against other people as normal when they have come to believe that a certain group is a threat, different from them, or seen as ‘the problem.’

It’s the same story that seems to play on repeat throughout history. Hateful rhetoric turns into hateful actions, which turn into widespread and systematic attacks against a specific population; otherwise known as mass atrocities.

If you think it can’t happen here, you are a fool. Look at our own history. Native American genocide, slavery, Japanese internment, McCarthyism, Jim Crow and segregation, violence against the LGBTQ community, and so on. This extremely flawed narrative that, “this isn’t who we are” is baffling to me. Open a book. Learn about this country’s history. And especially our recent history. It wasn’t that long ago that Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman John Lewis, and so many others were fighting for equal rights and being brutally beaten, tortured, and killed while doing so. All while millions of Americans looked the other way. Fifty-five years later, and people of color still have to put up with racism, bigotry, and violence.

But, back to President Trump. One of the main takeaways from every genocide and mass atrocity is that one person cannot commit these crimes alone. There are always going to be hateful people with hateful ideas; it’s when other people think those ideas are good or acceptable that we get mass violence.

Trump’s latest, but by no means his first, racist comments are horrible. But what’s worse are the people defending, doubling down, and endorsing his message. This support isn’t coming from fringe elements of society or from anonymous accounts on Twitter. It’s coming from members of his cabinet and members of Congress!

When these kinds of racist comments become normal and endorsed by legislators, justices, and law enforcement officers, that’s how you get a society that writes laws and institutes policies that are racist and allow for the commission of mass atrocities. To say nothing of the individuals who decide to take matters into their own hands, like the MAGA bomber. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and Congresswoman Omar already receive credible threats on a regular basis. This rhetoric only makes things worse. Just look at the mob at Trump’s recent rally in North Carolina chanting “send her back.” You can see the effects of Trump’s words already taking hold.  

In many ways, Trump is doing far more for the white nationalist movement than David Duke and the KKK or Richard Spencer and the Alt-Right could ever have dreamed of accomplishing. This is the sitting president of the United States sending racist messages and white nationalist talking points from the White House, and very few in his party are speaking out against him.

The power of that office and the bully pulpit is immense. He’s making comments like “go back to where you came from,” normal. He’s endorsing this rhetoric and encouraging it. And as he does this, more racists in this country will feel emboldened to speak out, and in some cases take action. Because, how could they possibly be wrong when the President of the United States is saying these things?

Trump is doing this because he knows it will get him votes. If his racist rhetoric didn’t appeal to a large population in this country, he would be making a different political choice. When people say, “We are better than this,” they have to realize that the “we” in that sentence apparently doesn’t apply to roughly 40% of our country and nearly 90% of the GOP (based on Trump’s recent polls).

Let me be clear. This man is dangerous and cannot remain in office. He must lose in 2020. The Democrats must take back the Senate and retain control of the House for the future of this country. 

I wish this wasn’t a partisan issue. I wish that both parties could agree that racism has no place in America in 2019. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. It has been made clear that the Republican Party is now the party of Donald Trump, and while not every Republican is OK with racism, it is clear that the majority are willing to look the other way and tacitly endorse Trump’s behavior.  

If Trump remains in office for another five years, and Republicans continue to defend, support, and endorse his dangerous rhetoric, we will see mass violence in this country.

That is not hyperbole.