By Dustin Rowles | Politics | September 1, 2016 |
By Dustin Rowles | Politics | September 1, 2016 |
For those who haven’t seen Donald Trump’s speech from Arizona last night, it was nothing short of terrifying. He was aggressive and hateful, and delivered the kind of speech that could incite mob violence. It was like a halftime speech, only Trump wasn’t rallying his team for a come from behind victory. He was inspiring them to go out and commit acts of violence against Mexicans.
Here’s a good edit of the speech from Rachel Maddow’s show.
"We are a nation of immigrants who turn on immigrants as scapegoats when normal politics doesn't work anymore." https://t.co/ISQtlqH5Ab
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) September 1, 2016
There was a lot written about the speech last night, some early takes that didn’t sit well (especially from a NYTimes article that was edited and rewritten overnight after it completely failed to capture the tenor of Trump’s speech), but much more will be written about it today and in the days to come. It hopefully will signal the end of Trump’s hopes for the Presidency; unfortunately, it’s only likely to grow the legend of Trump, position him as the leader of a movement of hate, no matter whether he wins or loses in November.
Little, however, will capture the fear and hate that it fueled better than this Tweet stream from The Vagina Avenger. Most of us can look upon Trump’s speech and shake our head in disgust, and call it out for the gross speech that it was. But for many people of color, the speech was more than that. It was a speech that increased the size of the target that’s already on their backs. It was a speech in which Donald Trump tried to violently turn his base against Latinos.
This is how that feels:
The republican candidate for president got to where he is because part of this country hates Mexicans. I'm terrified
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
No more dog whistles. No whisper campaigns. He's owning it and his supporters love him for it. I'm crying and I'm terrified.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
And this isn't just about immigration. We all look the same to them. They don't care when we are maids or farm workers.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
They have a problem when we become lawyers, doctors, or any people of power. We will all be targeted. Everyone of us.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
So I need my Mexicanos to unite. We need to watch our backs. We can't let them win.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
Y'all this is why I'm terrified to go canvassing this election. I'm fucking terrified.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
While political analyst discuss the success of this speech, hateful people got extra motivation & folks like me are terrified.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
Sending love to all my Latino brothers and sisters right now. Find self care and lean on each other during this time. This is stressful.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
Hey white pundits maybe layoff telling Latinos what trump speech meant right now. You have no understanding how it's made us feel.
— Vagina Avenger ™ (@monicaisliberal) September 1, 2016
Latinos are not the enemy. Mexicans are not the enemy. Undocumented, illegal immigrants aren’t the enemy. People who commit violence — and those like Donald Trump who inspire bloodshed — are the enemy, and they can be of any color or political persuasion.
Read between the lines, peep what he's actually saying. Systematic removal of black folk, Latino folk, Muslim folk. https://t.co/iOMeTIro8y
— Tulip O'Clare (@SayWhatSugar) September 1, 2016