Opinion: The Real Reason Trump Attacks Harris’ Racial Identity: It’s a Distraction
“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction,” the late great Toni Morrison once said. “It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.”
For Donald Trump’s entire political career, he’s used racism as a tool to distract the public from matters more significant. In 2012, he resorted to birtherism while questioning Barack Obama’s citizenship to disrespect the nation’s first Black president. When launching his presidential campaign in 2015, he called Mexicans rapists to incite fear on immigration issues. He spent his presidency attacking other marginalized groups on their identity to rally up the most xenophobic and racist base of his supporters.
This week, Trump was welcomed to a convention panel hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists to publicly insult the Black women journalists interviewing him—and his Black and Indian female presidential opponent, Kamala Harris.