Donald Trump and The Stanford Rapist : The Reemergence of Unapologetic White Male Privilege
Brock Turner, the Stanford Rapist, is no exception in American culture, he is the prototype of the classical European American male hero. From the moment that Brock Turner was found sexually assaulting an unconscious woman next to a dumpster to the day that he was found guilty by 12 jurors he has never offered an apology. Instead he has offered to become a life coach teaching college students about the dangers of alcohol and promiscuity. During his trial his defense was that his victim consented. He told a story of two starry eyed lovers who met at a college party, danced, held hands and made passionate love behind a dumpster. The fairy tale story that all women dream of.
The truth of course is that Brock is a subhuman criminal that physically and psychologically brutalized another person. His crime was horrifying. The fact that he refuses to apologize even after his conviction seems outrageous on face. However if we take a deeper look Brock Turner isn’t the outlier in American culture that he appears to be. Brock is the mean, the average, a non repentant poster boy for Anglo Male America. Brock’s story is no different from the first European men who “discovered” this country or the men who are heralded as the founding fathers. Why would Brock apologize when all his life “white” male rapists and murders have been celebrated as heroes and men of renaissance?
Christopher Columbus a serial murderer and rapist is still one of the most celebrated men in American history. His crimes of murder and rape are glossed over because his so called discovery is more important than his “shortcomings”.
Another story planted in our minds as children is the story of Pocahontas, the “Indian Princess” who fell in love with an explorer and fostered peace between the natives and colonists. The reality is that Pocahontas was an 11 year old girl when she first encountered colonists. She was kidnapped, raped, forcibly baptized, and coerced into a political marriage meant to prevent her people from further suffering. That is no fairy tale.
Then there’s Thomas Jefferson’s ‘love affair’ with his slave Sally Hemings (aka the Notebook). This story has been romanticized by historians as a interracial love affair instead of what it really was rape. Sally Hemings was 14 years old when Jefferson took her to London and Paris. Hemings spent two years abroad with Jefferson where it is believed they began their sexual relationship. Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner, a rapist and a child molester. In case you didn’t know this slaves didn’t have passports. Sally had no choice in going to Paris, a person that can be bought and sold as property can not consent to a sexual relationship when saying no means being killed, abused, sold, etc.
When the Founding Fathers weren’t raping, or spending quality time with their families, they were out committing genocide against native tribes that they had peace treaties with and importing millions of slaves from Africa. Their sons and grandsons would go on to either invade, conquer, or overthrow governments all over the world. And while that military was making the world safe for democracy it was raping the women in the United States military.
At no point in time has the white male establishment apologized or repented for the rape and murder of women and people of color, they have romanticized it and made excuses for it. To this date the only white male to offer any kind of apology for his actions is Justin Bieber and he’s from Canada.
I do not make sweeping allegations about people because of the color of their skin or gender, I am not saying that every white male is actively promoting rape and imperialism. What I am saying is that if the majority of white men were outraged by systemic rape, imperialism, racism, and police murder of citizens then the world would not look like it does today.
The truth is that the Brock Turners and Donald Trumps of the world are the rule and the rulers. The few men of privileged status that even moderately call out sexism and racism are called radical. The Noam Chomsky’s and Bernie Sanders of the world are called unrealistic because everyone knows the real America has nothing to do with justice.
It’s no surprise to me that Brock Turner won’t apologize for raping an unconscious woman. Unrepentant rape and violence is his birthright as a Caucasian American Male. If systemic racism and sexism was not the national anthem of white America Donald trump would not be the GOP nominee.
Donald Trump is no more dangerous than the men who came before him. Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes were definitely racist. The war on drugs and the war on terror decimated people of color all over the world. I want to be clear. The problem is just as rampant in liberal white America. Bill Clinton “the first Black President” did more damage to communities of color than the Reagans and the Bushes by escalating the war on drugs and signing the crime bill into law.
The only difference between Trump and his predecessors is that he does not hide his hate for poor people, people of color, and women. Trump doesn’t use terms like “war on drugs”, and “war on terror” he just says let’s keep Muslims and Mexicans out of “our country”. And the crowds love him for it.
Donald Trump is horrible. But he’s more honest than Reagan, both George Bush’s and Bill Clinton. He doesn’t apologize for his racism or hatred of women, in his mind This is What Made America Great. He wants a return to the good old days (pre-civil rights era America) when the founding fathers could kill, rape, and colonize without having their actions questioned.
Brock Turner and Donald Trump are not outliers they are the most honest picture of the moral fiber of this country. Unrepentant, Unapologetic, but All American.
Barack Obama just made history by being the first sitting President to visit Hiroshima, one of the cities where the U.S. used nuclear weapons in World War II.
Donald Trump said he had no problem with the visit as long as the President did not apologize.
I’m sure Brock Turner and Donald Trump make each other proud.
