Trump, racism and America: what is going on?

Hello, today I shall answer this question I have received from a reader of mine who prefers to remain anonymous.

"Limpeh, you've written quite a few articles to defend white people in the West and you've talked about how white people are not racist. What do you then make of the current controversy surrounding Donald Trump and all the xenophobic anti-Islam statements he has been making then? You could say that he is a madman and a racist of course, but look at the kind of support he has been getting since he has been making these statements. He's not an idiot - he must be making these statements because he knows it will make him popular as he is trying to become the Republican candidate for the presidential election. Doesn't that indicate that there are at least a sizable number of Republican supporters in America who are very anti-Muslim and racist? What do you think of Mr Trump? Thank you."

Yes, I do your question. Can I just say that most of us here in the UK are utterly mortified by Trump and his hateful rhetoric - we have responded by trying to ban him from ever entering the UK. But allow me to look a little deeper into the context of Trump's anti-Muslim statements and let's see what we can learn.

The 2016 Republican Nomination

Trump entered the race to be the Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential elections late in the process, only officially launching his campaign on the 16th June 2015 after a long period of speculation that he will indeed run. Early front runners in the process have included Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker. His campaign only took about a month to gain momentum, for him to emerge as one of the front runners in the race but by the end of July 2015, it was by no means a forgone conclusion that Trump would be victorious. There were as many as 14 possible candidates even up to early December and that meant that the votes were split 15 ways - it was clear that some of the candidates like Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal and George Pataki were never going to have a realistic chance against the main contenders but they were still picking up a few percentage of the Republic votes even in this late stage. What will be interesting is whom their supporters will support once someone like Mick Huckabee or John Kasich officially drops out of the process - all their supporters will then have to decide whom they will support instead.

The race is far from over, don't assume anything.

So whilst Trump is currently  in the lead, we shall have to wait for the moment where the short list to dwindle further and we are a good six months away from the final decision on the week commencing the 18th July 2016. However, if you were to look at the campaign of Jeb Bush, he is not doing very well indeed despite the fact that he emerged as an early front runner but his campaign seemed to have just run out of steam after a rather good start. So Trump has to do everything he can to keep himself in the headlines, to get the attention of the voters and the media - and if spouting anti-Muslim rhetoric works with the Republican voters, then he is going to keep doing that. This is not your typical popularity contest: the people who are offended by Trump's statements would probably never vote Republican anyway, never mind actually vote for Trump. He's only trying to win over small section of undecided Republican voters who are unsure whom to support at this stage - so if you're offended by Trump, guess what? He doesn't care.

Americans and Muslims

There are very few Muslims in America compared to Europe:  they number just 0.9% of the total population of America and the majority of them live in big cities like New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. If you were to go to a state like South Dakota, Idaho or Wyoming, then there are very few Muslims indeed. If you are a practicing Muslim, then it is just a lot easier to live in a big city where you have access to Halal butchers, mosques and have a community of other Muslims to network with - trying to get hold of Halal meat in a small town in America is just mission impossible. Compare this to the situation in Europe where there are plenty more Muslims: 4.6% in the UK, 9.6% in France, 5% in Germany and 5.7% in Switzerland. In big cities, the percentage is even higher: London is 12.4% Muslim, Paris is 7% and in Brussels, it is estimated to be as high as 25.5%. So really, for me to see a woman wearing a Muslim headscarf walking down the street in London or Paris is no big deal, but the same woman walking down the street in a small town in America will stand out far more and draw a lot more attention to herself.

Muslims number just 0.9% in all of America.

The hysteria in America about Muslims mostly stems from the fact that so many Americans who don't live in big cities have never actually met a Muslim before and the only information they have about Muslims come from the media who report on wars in the Middle East, various acts of terrorism around the world and they only get bad news associated with Muslims and Islam. When I see such news reports, I dismiss them because I have plenty of friends who are Muslims - I have worked with Muslims, I have lived with Muslims, I have spent so much time with Muslims so I am able to draw upon my own experiences to form an opinion about Muslims and Islam. But many Americans haven't got the same experience as I have, so they default to the negative stereotypes presented by the media and Trump. At this stage, you may be shaking your head in disbelief - but I found the same thing in Singapore where so many Singaporeans have never met a Jewish person and they default to the most ridiculous stereotypes about Jews (that were at time verging on being anti-Semitic). Ignorance is the real enemy here.

Political rhetoric vs reality

Well Trump can say whatever he wants now because he is just a presidential candidate - loads of political candidates promise the world during their campaigning process knowing that there is a distinct possibility that they will not actually win the election. Trump has got to first become the Republican candidate and then he has got to win the presidential election. That's two more major hurdles to cross before he can deliver on any of the policies he is currently talking about: from barring Muslims from entering the US to building a wall on the US border with Mexico. If he actually wins (oh please no, but let's run with this hypothetical situation), he can turn around and say, "I now represent all Americans, not just those who voted for me but also those who didn't and I have listened to all of you, so now I am going to compromise on some of these important issues." It isn't implausible for him to backtrack on some of the more extreme ideas he has floated so far and when he does, most people will just be relieved more than anything else. So don't panic just yet over Trump's provocative and hateful statements, I assure you Obama is still in charge for now!

Is it a U-turn or a political compromise? Does it matter?

Loads of people think that Trump is an asshole

Where do I begin? Loads of white people around the world have distanced themselves from Trump and have condemned him. There is currently a petition to get the UK government to ban Trump from entering the UK for the comments he has made about London (what utter bullshit - but dumb Republicans will believe anything),  Heck, even within the Republican party, many have condemned his latest remarks and have even called for him to step aside from the Republican nomination. Yup, Trump is even too controversial and right-wing for some Republicans. Trump is playing a very risky game - in trying to win the support of more Republicans, he is appealing to the extreme right of the party at the risk of alienating the rest of the country who are increasingly taking offence to Trump's hateful rhetoric. Lurch too far to the right and he will simply ensure that moderate Republicans may end up voting Democrat. Why? How many Americans want to live in a world where everyone hates their president?

Yes there are racist people in America, but consider the role of money as well.

America is a vast country with a population of 320 million. Within their population, of course there are bound to be racists - the same way you will find racists in every single country in the world including Singapore. But spend some time in America and you will realize that it is a very pleasant country despite the fact that some racists do exists there.The fact that racists do exists in America doesn't make life impossible for the ethnic minorities who live there - no, it boils down to something else altogether. Money. Rich black people don't suffer from the same kind of problems that poor black people suffer from; rich black people don't have the same kind of problems that poor white people suffer from because their money can solve so many of their problems. It is more about the size of your bank account rather than the colour of your skin these days: but why are people so focused on tackling racism rather than poverty?

Is it all about money at the end of the day?

Let's look at a simple aspect of life: education. We all know that getting a good degree will be extremely helpful in terms of helping you get a good job. The cost of a 3 year-programme at an American university can be around US$150,000 and that figure only covers tuition fees. Whilst a degree is undoubtedly useful, it also comes with a huge price tag. Now that is a lot of money and if you are a rich family, then good for you. And if you are one of those totally brilliant students from a very poor family, then again there are bursaries and scholarships for cases like that. But wait, what if you are a not so brilliant kid from an average family - you're not so smart that you are scholarship material and your family is not that poor that you qualify for a bursary: you're stuck in the middle, it is the curse of mediocrity, of being average  Average kids from rich families still get their degrees anyway, regardless of their skin colour.

I'm not pretending for a moment that racism isn't a problem in America, but it disproportionately affects poorer black people and richer, middle-class black Americans are far less affected. By the same token, many ignore the plight of lower middle class white Americans who have a bleak future because of their social class. The fact that America has a black president does tell you that if given the right opportunities, a black person can rise to the very top in America but look at Obama's brilliant track record that led him to the White House: his mother's relative wealth gave him a very good start in life and an excellent education. Note that Obama's mother from Obama Senior just 6 months after they got married - they eventually divorced and Obama had hardly any contact with his father - if she had been a poor, working class single mother struggling to make ends meet, who knows how life would have turned out for Obama despite his obvious intellectual brilliance. Perhaps you may hate me for saying this: but poor Americans are far more likely to be a victim of their financial circumstances rather than racism per se, but people always focus on racism rather than poverty instead. Is it because they just can't envision poverty within the context of a rich country like America?

Why do people talk about racism rather than poverty?

So what is the worst and best case scenario?

Well, the worst case scenario is that Trump becomes the next president of America and he goes out of his way to antagonize Muslims, Mexicans and everyone else, alienates even America's traditional allies like Canada and Europe. He makes many more enemies, starts various wars around the world and it leads to WW3. That is the worst case scenario but hopefully, we won't come to that. Hopefully his bark is worse than his bite and the American political system means that he won't be able to rule like Kim Jong Un and simply do any crazy shit he wants - the US Congress will hopefully be able to block the more crazy schemes and there will hopefully be enough checks and balances to prevent the outbreak of WW3. But I remember that sinking feeling of doom back in 2004 when George W Bush was reelected president of America despite the fact that he was such an odious, evil, nasty piece of shit.

Well, the best case scenario is that Trump continues spouting more and more provocative xenophobic statements and he continues to alienate and alarm his own party to the point where they decide to exclude him from the process because they feel that they will just lose to someone like Hilary Clinton if they have Trump as their candidate. Trump doesn't back down from a fight he has chosen, so he decides to run as an independent candidate. However, he splits the traditional Republican vote between himself and the chosen Republican candidate, hence ensuring a pretty comfortable and easy victory for the Demorat candidate (Hilary Clinton or Bernie Sanders). The world then breathes a collective sigh of relief as we get the final results but we know that Trump is almost certainly going to run for president again in the future. Nonetheless, we all rejoice and know that the world is safe for at least another four years.

America: it is time for you to choose wisely!

So that's it from me on this issue. What do you think? Will Trump become the next president of America or is he simply too controversial even for right wing Americans? Does Trump really represent the vast majority of Americans or is he simply trying to appeal to the extreme right? What kind of world will we live in if he becomes president and what does Trump's popularity tell us about American society? Please leave a comment below - many thanks for reading.