Our nation’s history is marred by the bigotries and prejudices which predate our founding. The spiritual embodiment of the American experiment is a challenge and a standard even our Founding Fathers failed to meet. It was only through the heroic sacrifices of Americans of many backgrounds were we able to progress toward a more enlightened understanding of our neighbors.
With progress, however, comes the backlash from those dark forces.
We saw the growth of white supremacist groups and militias with the election of Barack Obama. The rise of Donald Trump as a national political figure further integrated these far-right communities within the Republican Party.
The past twenty five years showed a wide range of communities impacted by bigotry and hate.
Arabs, Muslims, and Sikhs mistaken as Muslim experienced acts of hate and bigotry in the wake of 9/11. The conservative political movement sought to codify their treatment with books lifting up Japanese internment as a solution and, later, Donald Trump’s Muslim ban.
The conservative movement’s campaign to demonize primarily Latino immigrants since George W. Bush’s push for comprehensive immigration reform culminated in Trump’s rise on the promise to “build the wall,” mass deportations, and the creation of a concentration camp network.
Donald Trump’s first campaign stoke fears within the Jewish community as his campaign increasingly embraced nakedly white supremacist and antisemitic figures. Trump’s campaign even used antisemitic tropes drawn from Nazi websites. Since that campaign, antisemitism within his orbit continues to this day.
Antisemites with associations to Trump’s political movement seized upon the war in Gaza to launder their antisemitism, tarring legitimate criticisms of Israeli policy. In recent months, acts of antisemitic hate hit the Bay Area. Hateful messages sprawled on Jewish community properties—including a school—in Oakland. Two men speaking Hebrew attacked in San Jose.
Anti-Asian hate in the U.S., unfortunately, extends deep into our history in the 19th century, land restrictions in the 1920s, and the unconscionable internment of people with Japanese ancestry including U.S. citizens during the war. The pandemic supercharged anti-Asian hate considerably higher than the previous year. Trump, during an election year, sought to deflect blame for his handling of the pandemic, engaged in vile uses of anti-Asian terms for COVID-19.
Christian nationalist allies of the president target South Asians like Republicans Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy with vile epithets and slurs. It is a rubber band effect of Donald Trump’s bigoted immigration rhetoric on staunch supporters of his immigration policies.
Matt is fighting hate and stands with communities targeted by bigotry and prejudice. Racial and religious hatred of any kind cannot be tolerated. We and our neighbors expect and deserve to live safe, prosperous, and free.
