I’ve always said that the biggest danger of Donald Trump isn’t Trump himself, but what his supporters will do if he wins. We all heard about the spike in violence against immigrants after the Brexit vote. Apparently, we won’t have to wait until after the vote to reap the fruits of Trump’s candidacy. It has already begun.
My friend just posted this update:
This is from a gentle friend. It is not made up. It is real, and what Trump inspires (in California in this case).
I just found out our one Gardner / Landscaper was beaten up by 2 men while doing his job. They broke his ankle, his ribs, and a few teeth and all because he is Hispanic. All they time they were beating up on him (2 big guys against 1 small sized guy), they were telling him to just wait till Trump wins, that Trump will kick him out of the US. He's a very sweet man who is here legally on a green card. At this moment I am so sad and sickened and ashamed of our country and our people and our political system.
Here are the details from Roberto’s Gofundme page:
On September 23rd. He was working on someone's yard. He was attacked by 2 big men . While they were attacking him, his foot got wedged between a car's tire and the curb. So, he couldn't get away. They knocked him down and beat him up. All the time they were attacking him, they were telling him to just wait until Trump gets into office, that he'll be kicked out of the country.
Roberto's ankle was broken, his knee was wrenched and his ribs were dislocated.
I didn't find out about it until October 10th, when he came into my office to tell me that his father is doing our gardening right now while he can't.
While he was telling me the story of what happened, he kept saying he wished they had asked him, or given him a chance to show them his green card, to show them that he was legally in the country. I don't think that would have mattered, but I didn't tell him that.
This is chilling for so many reasons. Trump has attacked just about every marginalized group under the sun.
Trump validates hatred. It has been said a million times. His dangerous rhetoric encourages dangerous, violent, hateful people to come out of hiding. “It’s just words,” some people say. “Don’t be so politically correct.”
No. It is not just words when it incites people to do violence.
The story this week is Trump’s misogyny. He feels entitled to grope women’s bodies whenever he feels like it, as do so many men all around the world. He disrespects and objectifies women, calling us names, rating our appearance, devaluing us. And, guess who is already mirroring the behavior that Trump has modeled? His supporters, of course. The number of people, both male and female, that I have seen rationalizing and normalizing rape culture today alone boggles my mind.
Defeating Trump at the polls will hopefully send the racists and xenophobes back into hiding. We can only hope we will not continue to see Trump-inspired violence against immigrants. However, with Clinton in office, I expect the misogynists to come out of the woodwork, the way racists have done during Obama’s presidency. It is going to be a very difficult time. We might see an uptick in violence against women.
If I were a spiritual person, I might pray.