Recently, certain shocking demonstrations of Republican primary candidate Donald Trump’s demagogue-like campaign have come to light that warrant a serious attitude.
The time for joking is certainly over; ironic support of Trump, silly references to his future presidency, and so on, are no longer appropriate. The seriousness of this campaign has become something no one can avoid. As college students and responsible adults, the political climate requires of us a sobriety and attention appropriate to the direness of the situation.
I will be absolutely clear. Supporting Donald Trump is an act of hate speech.
From threatening to deport all immigrants illegally in the country to vowing to disallow any further Muslim immigration to the United States, the vitriolic, racist sentiments he supports are unambiguous. There can be no apology for these statements. No adult in 2016 could possibly, for instance, be uncertain of David Duke and the KKK’s motives–certainly not one running for a public office, and especially not one running for no less than the President of the United States of America. This is blatantly unacceptable, and the time for attempts at defense of these statements is long over.
If you are a Muslim or Latino/a (or of another immigrant background, of course) student at Cal Poly, I offer my deepest sympathies and alliance in these disquieting times. (As a Mexican-American myself, I cannot help but be disturbed by the nature of the policies Trump advocates.) If you are not a member of one of these groups, then I implore you to extend your hearts and minds to the issues faced here by your fellow Cal Poly students. Imagine the alienation and fear felt by, say, a Muslim woman when passing a man wearing a “Make American Great Again” hat. Consider the offense to all the morals of careful, unbigoted, and inclusive inquiry and reason that universities as institutions stand for.
Given that it is well known what hateful positions Trump advocates for (to say otherwise is an embarrassing misunderstanding of the facts), and given that there are people who are directly affected by these hateful positions on our campus, there can be no other conclusion than that the act of supporting Donald Trump in the public sphere is an act of hate.
This is no longer a political question. At any rate, Trump has no political stance or actual policy proposals.
This is no longer a question of Republican or Democrat, of Conservative or Liberal. One can support, say, limited spending by government without being a literal racist bigot. We have made far too much progress in the past hundred or so years to allow the evils of the past to start creeping back.
Donald Trump support is not just another political position; it is hate speech.