Trump’s hand in a cloaked race war

As we go about our lives, sipping our morning coffee or making our way to work, it’s easy to forget about the world around us. Most of the time, we don’t think about race enough to realize that the notion of us living in a post-racism society is invalid.

But just because there isn’t a physical war taking place in front of our eyes like there was 150 years ago does not mean there isn’t one progressing in its own form.

Particularly, thanks to Donald Trump’s comments on the campaign trail, he has kicked up some of the country’s old buried racism. And he has given racists the green light to say and act on what they think as if it’s acceptable. If you can run for president and say a judge is giving unfair rulings because “he’s a Mexican,” what can you not say as a citizen?

But America can’t afford to even slightly trace back along the path we’ve paved towards love among the races. Trump has brought with him an escalation of hate, and this race war has only become more dangerous, more invisible.

Strangely enough, it is precisely because blatant prejudice isn’t considered acceptable these days that racism has become easier to get away with ​ — which has perhaps resulted in a more harmful outcome.

For example, Keith Scott’s recent untimely passing in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 43 was a product of what we’ve coined as a “cloaked race war.” He suffered one of its most hidden widespread tactics: the criminal justice system.

His treatment at arrest was excessively harsh and ended with death in the hands of the legal system. Scott, unlike others who fall victim to the system, didn’t even make it to prison.

Police brutality has become an illuminated reality of African American lives since Rodney King’s case in 1991, but has only worsened in recent years as racial injustices by police continue to occur.

Here’s how it works: Lynchings may be completely unjustifiable these days, but corrupted officials are seemingly inevitable glitches. It’s an outlet for racism.

Now, on top of this still unsolved issue, we have Trump, who has inspired many other hate crimes all on his own, a few of which were mentioned by alternet.com.

When two Muslim women were verbally attacked on a subway, an African American father was physically attacked at a hospital, and an interracial couple was stabbed in Washington, Trump was cited.

Just as police brutality has been used an invisible excuse for racism, Trump has only added to the invisibility factor of this war, offering himself as the excuse.

This doesn’t mean we aren’t aware that this is what’s happening, but rather points to how hard it is to stop such actions even when it’s clear what’s going on.

As a side note, this should lead us to question, will a man who inspires others to act in violence towards other citizens in their own nation be able to control violence internationally? I doubt it.

So, for the sake of the nation, which already has enough of its own emotional baggage from history, Trump needs to stop.

One needs to do nothing but open their eyes to the reality surrounding them in order to see that the United States is not at all “post-racism.”

When we fail to admit there is a problem, we fail our country and inhibit the possibility of mending society’s ills.

Trump is a problem, but we wield the power to help create a heritage that would inspire more positive and progressive actions in the future.