Donald Trump’s pledge to fight what he calls “anti-white feeling” in the U.S. will likely embolden allies who seek to dismantle government and corporate programs created to battle racism and boost diversity in American life.
Some high-profile supporters of the former president, now the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, say policies for safeguarding people of color in classrooms, workplaces and charities should be repurposed to protect the rights of white people as well.
“I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country,” Trump told Time in an interview published on Tuesday. “I don’t think it would be a very tough thing to address, frankly. But I think the laws are very unfair right now.”
Trump did not specify examples of anti-white bias nor policy prescriptions in the interview.
My friend, you are not. It’s your reasoning that’s causing the dunking. As I said I’m also white, so I can say this with certainty. Your point would be worthy of disparagement no matter what colour you were.
Okay but seriously, let’s see if we can work through this.
Do you have much exposure to people of colour? This isn’t meant as a put-down, but I remember thinking like you did before acquiring some lived experience (and doing a lot of processing). I knew a few people of colour, and felt like racism was a thing of the past. I had a kind of “colourblind” view of racism that completely disregarded historical and actual power imbalances.
This neutral view of racism can feel logical and comfortable; it has a kind of pleasant algebraic symmetry to it, so I can see the appeal.