Much of the lazy and irresponsible mainstream media is breathlessly reporting that Donald Trump has disavowed racism and the white supremacist/Neo-Nazi agenda of the so-called Alt-Right. However, in reality, other than a few tweets and a few disingenuous statements during his interview on 60 Minutes, Trump has not disavowed racism and white supremacy or walked back any of the race based hatred he fanned during his campaign rallies. Then there is the complexion of those appointed to his administration today. Other than a few black religious fanatics such as Ken Blackwell and Kay Cole James (who has a decades old history here in Virginia of being a water carrier for white Christofascists), his appointees have been marked by two things: (i) that they are white, and (ii) they are opposed to civil rights and full equality for all. One comment on a piece in Salon summed up Trump's idea of diversity this way:
Trump says he's seeking diversity for his team. That would mean brown-haired white men, blond-haired white men, gray-haired white men, bald white men, skinny white men, fat white men, tall white men, and short white men.
The actual piece in Salon looks at Trump's half-hearted denials of racism and the white supremacy movement. Here are excerpts:
On Tuesday afternoon President-elect Donald Trump met with reporters and editors from The New York Times — after recently tweeting criticisms against the paper — and made journalists’ eyes open wide when he said he “disavowed” the alt-right.
That’s part of the incoming Trump administration’s recent spin. Faced with a spike in hate crimes timed with Trump’s campaign and election, the goal of his team has been to avoid talking about the violence and racism, even as modern-day Nazis went to Washington and perform Hitler salutes in the name of the president-elect.
Even Kushner’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, told Forbes something similar in a story published Tuesday: “Trump has disavowed their support 25 times. He’s renounced hatred, he’s renounced bigotry, and he’s renounced racism. I don’t know if he could ever denounce them enough for some people.”
Earlier on Tuesday we had decided to email Lanza, the deputy communications director of the Trump presidential transition committee, to see when exactly the president-elect had denounced racism. . . . We followed up, asking Lanza when, specifically, Trump denounced racism. We haven’t heard a reply.
Before Tuesday the closest that Trump came to addressing racist acts that have been carried out in his name appears to have been on Nov. 13 when he spoke to “60 Minutes.” Then Trump said he had not been aware of but one or two things about threats and told those who were intimidating minorities to “Stop it!”
Trump's disavowals have been made with a wink and a nod. No true repudiation of the Alt-Right and white supremacists has occurred and most likely will never come. These forces put Trump over the top in the election and he needs their continued support.
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