100% agree. This is the distinction between what most Black folk see as Trump's impact, vs most white folk.
Many Black folk see it as a "mask off" moment. Many white folk see it as a "People's underlying feelings have been swayed by Trump/social media/algorithms!" But no.
The difference is important. Because without Trump, the underlying feelings and actions, were still there.
And as a Black person, I have to say that I much prefer the mask off racists to the mask on racists. My view is: "If you don't like me, just say that, and we can get right into it."
This is also the reason why the supposed logical dilemma of "Would you go back in time and kill baby Hitler?" is not a dilemma at all.🤷🏿♂️ The answer is "No. Don't kill babies. What's wrong with you?" And also, "No, because you wouldn't be preventing anything."
Hitler was not a good writer, or a powerful speaker, or even particularly persuasive. It's not how he was saying it. It's that what he was saying already resonated with fascists and antisemites. If it weren't him, it would have just been someone else. The problem wasn't Hitler. The problem was about 30 million of the 80 million Germans.
This. I'm white and disabled. Not the same space, but a similar one. It's easier to deal with the devil in the light than the devil in the dark.
In the case of my ex, I hadn't known I'd married a racist because we were privileged to live where the racism was not in view. MAGA 1.0 was when I learned. It was the motivating factor in my decision to end the marriage.
I can't really describe this well, but it's also part of why I'm not in any hurry to haul my #transgender ass out of #Texas. Because I know how to survive here, where the bigotry is overt.
It's like the difference between concealed carry and open carry. In #TX, people openly carry their #transphobia and #homophobia. I don't know how to live where this bigotry is concealed carry.
