By Urban Media News
GOP Convention
Last week, the Republican Party held their quadrennial Presidential nominating convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
On Tuesday, the GOP formally nominated Donald Trump, a man referred to by the Huffington Post throughout this year’s campaign as “a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully.”
True to form, Mr. Trump and his party demonstrated throughout the week that they have abandoned their commitment to being more inclusive and their short-lived efforts to bring more African Americans, Hispanics, and other communities of color into their party. Following the re-election of President Barack Obama in 2012 the Grand Old Party had pledged to increase outreach efforts into communities of color. Four short years later, it is clear through their elevation of Mr. Trump and ongoing refusal by party leaders to denounce both his implicit and overt appeals to racists that their pledge meant nothing.
Speaker after speaker at the Republican Convention belittled the “Black Lives Matter” movement from the dais, just days after multiple examples of unarmed black men being shot to death by renegade police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana captivated the nation. Clearly, the Republican Party does not understand the importance messages of equality, justice, and peace that are at the core of the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
In addition to denying the reality that is being black in America, Republican Party officials and Mr. Trump himself doubled down on their contention that Mexican immigrants are nothing more than murderous thugs. In announcing his campaign for the Presidency Mr. Trump singled out Hispanics as criminals and rapists. Rather than apologize for his remarks Mr. Trump continues to denigrate immigrants from Latin countries as a threat to every community, most notably by leveling outrageous accusations at an Indiana born judge overseeing a lawsuit brought against him that none other than Speaker of the House Paul Ryan described as a “textbook example of racism.”.
The final night of the convention saw Mr. Trump fully embrace what Politico describes as the racially charged, “subtle but discernible brand of backlash politics” which Richard Nixon rode to power in the 1970’s. Proclaiming himself the “law and order” candidate Mr. Trump could not have been more overt in his appeal to those who cling to the hope of a return to the bygone era where individuals of color did not have access to opportunities available today.
Trump’s acceptance speech and week long convention rightly led to the Washington Post editorial board describing the Republican nominee for President as a “unique threat to American democracy” in large part to his embrace of the “politics of denigration and division” that “could strain the bonds have held a diverse nation together.”
The racially charged undertones of the week were not limited to speakers from the dais. In one of the more bizarre visuals of the week, convention attendees on the floor reacted with dismay to the unfurling of a banner reading “No Racism No Hate.” The spectacle of conservative activists scurrying to obscure and eventually cover up a message of peace with an American flag was too rich for television networks to ignore, leading to millions of viewers at home watching the awkward scene.
On the whole, the Republican Party convention and Mr. Trump himself made clear what they think of communities of color, leaving only the question of whether voters will rise up and reject their divisive, outdated view of the world this November.