We watched in horror as he called Mexicans criminals and rapists. We couldn't believe our ears when he insulted the Muslim Gold Star family of a U.S. fallen soldier. We've been shaking our heads for years over his insistence that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen. However, Donald Trump and racism is just news as usual. This type of behavior stopped being shocking a while ago, and that is what is terrifying. At what point are we going to call a spade a spade and acknowledge the Republican presidential nominee for what he is: a racist?
On Friday, Trump FINALLY, after five years, let go of the birther conspiracy and admitted Obama was born in the U.S., and thank God for that. Without his confirmation, we may have never known for sure (if you couldn't already tell, this is sarcasm). However, to feed his undying need for controversy his campaign falsely blamed the conception of the birther movement on his opponent, Hillary Clinton. At a press event in Washington D.C. he stated, "Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it." Like I said before, it is almost hard to be shocked anymore.
First, in no way, shape, or form is the claim that the 2008 Clinton campaign started the birther movement true. Secondly, this was not simply a question of Obama's birthplace, this was not being critical of the President, this was a vicious attempt to delegitimize our first African American president, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that feels an awful lot like racism to me. Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took to Twitter to shed light on the racist agenda of the birther movement, writing, "My dad was born in Poland. Do you know how many people ever asked me whether or not I was born in America? Nobody ever asked me that. Maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin."
Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump was basically high-fived by popular media for finally giving up what some are calling "his greatest trick yet." For the news, it was business as usual, instead of the five year long racist implausible conspiracy theory against the President undeniably fueled by Trump. But the media continues to eat this up, playing into Trump's every word, further normalizing racism in this country.
I understand objectivity in journalism. I understand reporting both sides of the story. What I don't understand is continuing to let a racist demagogue off the hook for what would be unacceptable behavior for any other presidential candidate. Earlier this month Soledad O'Brien called out the media for normalizing white supremacy. On CNN's "Reliable Sources" she told host Brian Stetler, "I’ve seen, on-air, white supremacists being interviewed because they are Trump delegates, and they do a five-minute segment, the first minute or so talking about what they believe as white supremacists. So you have normalized that.”
Donald Trump's appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last Thursday is also rustling more than a few feathers. While I'm a huge fan of Jimmy and I know he's all about a good time and never wants to make a guest look bad, I have to admit I was slightly nauseated watching him fawning over Trump and humanizing what the Huffington Post is calling "a well-documented xenophobic, racist and misogynistic serial liar." Although Fallon is a comedian, not a journalist, this interview toed the line of irresponsibility by not even attempting to humorously call out Trump's dangerous viewpoints and only continued to make these types of beliefs seem normal.
In case anyone is forgotten, racism and bigotry are not normal ideals to hold, although you might not know that from watching media coverage of this election season alone. The media's refusal to hold Donald Trump accountable for the dangers he poses to our country has not only normalized his racism and ignorance, but it will continue to affect us for decades to come.
