There is no avoiding the fact that this election has awakened a surge of hate crimes throughout America. From white men pulling guns on African-American women, to straight men smashing beer bottles in the faces of gay men, acts of hatred around America have become much more prevalent since Donald Trump’s election.
Although Trump neither committed nor endorsed these crimes, his election has riled overtly racist men and women, which has started a war between minorities and white people.
Trump has a history of racism. He has called Mexicans “rapists,” and Muslims “terrorists.” He has threatened to build a wall to keep immigrants out of the U.S., and to deport children. His overt brand of racism and sexism have garnered him support from members of the KKK, writers from a Neo-Nazi news site, members of the League of the South (a white supremacist group), and many others. Supporters now have faith in themselves to openly oppress.
Over the course of Trump’s campaign, many people, some who even refer to themselves as “white supremacists,” made racist threats. From threatening to kill black people, to imitating grabbing women in their privates, these comments were extreme on their own. Since the election, however, these threats have manifested off the computer screen and into real life.
The day following Trump’s election, a Louisiana man wearing a Trump hat and an accomplice beat and robbed a Muslim woman. They stole her money and hijab, screaming racist remarks at her.
A Muslim woman was attacked in New York thereafter. While riding the Northbound Train, she was attacked by three men who tried stealing her purse and hijab.
A Black woman in Delaware told a similar story on Facebook; while pumping gas, she was approached by four white men. They called her derogatory names and pulled a gun on her, saying “you’re lucky there’s witnesses or else I’d shoot you right here”.
Racism and discrimination is no less covert inside schools. White students at a school in Pennsylvania called their Black peers “cotton pickers,” going so far as to use the “heil Hitler” salute.
A video has surfaced of a Royal Oak middle school in which white students chant “build a wall.”
At a college campus in New York, a black baby doll was found in an elevator with a rope tied around her neck.
This kind of overt discrimination happened only in the days following Trump’s win. Imagine the next four years.
Trump has not made America great. These hate-filled crimes are a direct result of his campaign, leaving minorities in America fearful of what might come.
