Trump and Modern Racism

by Yiselperez on October 19, 2016 - 12:32pm

Yisel Perez Aguiar 

Anthropology 381-204-LA 

The myth of race and the reality of racism 

Group 544 

October 19th 2016 

Trump and modern racism 

Racism is a rather recent ideology. People did not feel the need to use race as a way to control minorities until the late 17th century. Around that time, people were explicitly racist and actually believed in the superiority of the “white race”. Today, racism is still present among us, only now it uses a more implicit approach: it is more subtle. 

 Today, people such as Donald Trump, an actual candidate for the U.S presidency, can get away with his racist beliefs and statements simply because haddresses them in a very “clever” way. I chose to talk about racism using Trump as an example because if affects my family (which is perceived a Hispanic) in the U.S. This man has a great influence on his supportersIf his message translates as racist, his supporters might think it is acceptable to discriminate or even segregate certain groups of people. 

 In the Washington Post article, it is said how Donald Trump repeatedly asked the first “African-American” president to show his birth certificate. He did not believe that Obama was in fact born in the United States. I wonder if he would he insist so much on making public the roots of a “white” president? I do not think so. He saw that Obama looked different, then, made assumptions. He kept on questioning so until 2014, even if Barack Obama officially showed his papers in 2011. This made me think of the concept of “New Racism” because it was expressed through speeches through an implicit way, although sometimes he explicitly says he believes in segregation ( the building of a wall), which is part of Old Racism. 

In my opinion, such behaviour should not be acceptable. A candidate that focus so much time and effort making generalizations about specific “races” clearly states what his priorities are. Should the leader of an entire nation win the presidency of the United States using race and segregation as a basis? 

List of References 

Sargent, G. (2016, September 16). Donald Trump is a racist conspiracy theorist. Don't let him lie his way out of it. The Washington Post. Retrieved from  




Hello Yisel,
I agree with you that Donald Trump is very out of line for his consistent and harsh racist comments. However there may be a reason as to why he is consistently racist and sexist. While Donald Trump may be considered an ideal man in our patriarchal society he lost one key feature, physical strength. Donald wishes to conform to a particular type of masculinity, called hegemonic masculinity. This is a type of masculinity that celebrates white, rich, athletic men; these men are to dominate both women and “weaker men”. Since Donald Trump now lacks the athleticism needed to properly conform he attempts to reimburse what he misses out on for not being athletic anymore he over conforms in attempting to dominate “weaker men and women”. Donald Trump thinks that weaker men are any non-white man and therefore he is racist towards them in his attempt to conform properly to hegemonic masculinity. Donald’s constant sexist comments can be linked to the hegemonic masculinity idea that men should dominate and women be dominated, Another example of him trying to compensate for his lost athleticism. While Donald’s comments are by no means acceptable, his actions are a result of him trying to conform to social ideas. Many for the people who believe in what he does are like him, trying to compensate for something that does not fit the checklist of what makes you a proper man. for further information on what hegemonic masculinity a link is provided:

Hello Yisel,

I agree with your point regarding Trump's racist comments towards ethnic groups, especially the Hispanics. I like that you chose to discuss about him because it is the perfect example of modern racism. However, I think you could have deepen your arguments by explaining why he could get away by making racist comments during his presidential candidacy. First of all, Trump evidently has much more privilege than many people. He has a lot of money, he is white and he is a male. Unfortunately, in today's society, that is what defines a privileged person.
However, what makes many fellow americans follow his offensive words?
Mr. Trump is categorized in the Patriarchal World View. He is a wealthy man therefore he has control over his wealth and now he wishes to become President which will (if he wins) give him political power. What defines a man in today’s society are characterics that are in the “Man Box”: Strong, tough, intimidating, respected, wealthy, playboy and many more. Those attributes are what men in our society wish to achieve/possess. If they do not follow the Patriarchal world view, they are humiliated by society with offensive insults that downgrade their masculinity.

Here is an interesting Ted Talks video that I find interesting and I hope you enjoy as well:

Hey Yisel,
what you say is very much true; Donald Trump is a racist bully. His harshness towards Barack Obama you mentioned is just one of many examples where he has demonstrated extreme racism and sexism. Horrifyingly enough, Trump has managed to actually become elected the U.S. president. Many immigrants now fear their American lives. Now that he has been elected, how do you feel things will turn out? Is Donald Trump capable of changing his beliefs? What can we as citizens do to make things right? What will you do? Many immigrants are considering now leaving the U.S. with their families. Personally, I feel that we must join together and fight in order to combat new racism policies. The road ahead will be filled with much protesting but we must not let Trump prevail. I'd be interested to hear your take on this development.

I must agree with you in your comments regarding Donald Trump and racism. This is a terrifying time for our country. I fear that the rights and civil liberties that immigrants such as slaves, hispanics, and muslims have had to fight for time and time again are at risk. The protests that are going on are not doing anything but creating bigger problems. I can honestly say my reasons for who i choose in the presidential election go far beyond just the racism aspect but it is something important that should not be overlooked. In a world where women and immigrants have fought so hard to be equal it feels as if we were stabbed in the back by having this man be elected President of the United States of America. Although I will always take pride in my country I am very afraid for our future. I am interested to find out how much of the "promises" will hold true. Heres to the next four years.

I could not agree with you more on this blog. Donald Trump has used his money and power to manipulate people. He has created many barriers not just in race, but also in genders and religion. Now that he is unfortunately the leader of our country people feel that it is ok to speak and act on such racism since the man in charge is so open with it. I am a twenty eight year old Hispanic female with two young boys that are going to be growing up in these times and I cant explain how afraid I am. I don't think that Hilary was a much better option but she was the lesser of the two evils. It saddens me to think that there are so many people that stand behind a man that has over and over again shown so much hatred. But, I saw a quote that allowed me to not completely hate him and it went along the lines of, wishing him (Donald Trump) bad is like hoping for the pilot of your plane to not succeed just because you don't believe in his views. How do you think the country would have responded to President Obama had he shown this kind of behavior?

What you had to say about Donald Trump is very true. On the other hand, he a can not do much damage when it comes to building a wall because number one, no one will pay for it, and number two, it has to go through congress and what not. Also, he is out president now and there are no redo's at this point. We must accept the fact that he is going to me our future president and there is nothing we can do about it. Hillary would have been no better option than Donald because she is a liar. So, therefore, we were in a lose lose situation no matter who won the presidency.

While I agree that Donald Trump is racist, I do not feel he would be considered a manifestation of "Modern Racism." Based on your definition of how "Modern Racism" takes on a more implicit and subtle approach, Donald Trumps brand of racism is pervasive and hyperbolic, which is more reminiscent of the Post Civil Rights Era and Jim Crow Laws. He has no qualms of making vast generalized statements of various ethnicities and religions, like he has in the past regarding Mexicans, Muslims, etc. Furthermore, he has no qualms of basing his various platforms in regards to things like immigration and the criminal justice system on racist ideology. Ultimately, I feel the telling story is how in 2017, our President and Vice-President has a combined ideology that is racist, that is misogynistic and that is anti-LGBT. If nothing else, this is most reflective of "Modern Racism" because two men who spout such rhetoric will hold the two highest positions in the American Government, as per the Electoral College. How much more subtle can a little less than half the American voters get? In other news, he has softened a bit on some of the "musts" on his platform, so perhaps it was a clever ruse to get into office. Then again, as you stated in your post, Donald Trump was a key proponent of the birther movement in regards to President Obama and that was certainly indicative of "Modern Racism."

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