Racism
In the 1970s, Trump was sued twice by the U.S. Justice Department for discriminating against black people who wanted to rent housing from his father's company. He started his political career by arguing falsely and repeatedly that Barack Obama was not a United States citizen, and he later lied about having found evidence in support of his claims. During the presidential campaign, Trump was denounced by politicians on the right and left after saying a U.S. district judge of Mexican ancestry couldn't be unbiased in the Trump University fraud suit because of his heritage. House Speaker Paul Ryan said, "Claiming a person can’t do the job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment. I think that should be absolutely disavowed. It’s absolutely unacceptable."
Timeline
| 1927.06.01 | Trump's father arrested at a Ku Klux Klan rally in New York. vice.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 1950.12 | Woody Guthrie writes a song called "Old Man Trump" denouncing the racism of his landlord, Trump's father Fred. nytimes.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 1973.10.16 | Trump is sued by the Department of Justice for refusing to rent homes to black people. documentcloud.org (See also Black Americans) |
| 1973.12.13 | Trump after hiring a former McCarthy Aid as his lawyer counter-sues the Justice Department for $100 million after they sued him for refusing to rent homes to black people. documentcloud.org The Lawsuit is later thrown out. |
| 1975.06.11 | Trump settles with federal government, promising to end racial bias. documentcloud.org |
| 1978.03.07 | Trump is sued again by the Department of Justice for once more refusing to rent homes to black people. nytimes.com (See also Black Americans) This was 3 years after he agreed to stop racist business practices and paid a large settlement. |
| 1989.09.05 | Trump says blacks have a tremendous advantage over whites when looking for jobs. newsone.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 1990.09 | Ivana Trump claims her husband keeps book of Hitler speeches by his bed. businessinsider.com (See also Anti-Semitism, Jewish Americans) |
| 1991.05.10 | The President of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino publishes a book where he quotes Trump as saying he thinks laziness is a trait in the blacks and he only wants Jews counting his money. web.archive.org (See also Black Americans, Jewish Americans, Anti-Semitism) |
| 1992.12.06 | Trump is fined 200,000$ by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for not allowing blacks or women onto his casino floor while personal friend and racist Mafia leader is gambling. yahoo.com (See also Criminality, Women, Sexism, Black Americans) |
| 1993.10.06 | Trump, trying to get in on casino market, says Mashantucket Pequots "don't look like Indians to me." articles.courant.com (See also Native Americans) |
| 1997 | Jill Harth files a sexual harassment lawsuit, which among other things claims Trump attempted to rape her and refused to hire black models. dailymail.co.uk (See also Misogyny, Sexism, Women, Black Americans, Lawsuits, Criminality) |
| 2005 | Sound Technician on "The Apprentice" says Trump repeatedly called him a "F*cking Monkey." buzzfeed.com (See also Black Americans) He also said Trump verbally harassed women on set. |
| 2011.04.14 | Trump, mulling presidential run against Obama, says he has a good relationship with "the blacks." politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 2014.11.25 | Trump says that because of Obama there won't be another black president for generations. newsone.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 2015.08.21 | Trump is asked to comment about two of his supporters who brutally beat and urinated on a homeless man while saying, “Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported,” Trump responds to the question with, "The people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. " washingtonpost.com (See also Mexican Americans, Americans in Poverty, 2016 Campaign, Hate Crimes, Trump Effect) |
| 2015.08.27 | Trump responds to praise from White Supremacists with: "Everyone likes me." talkingpointsmemo.com (See also 2016 Campaign, Black Americans) |
| 2016.01.22 | Trump retweets a white supremacist. timesofisrael.com (See also Jewish Americans, Anti-Semitism) |
| 2016.01.22 | Trump retweets white supremacist: ."@WhiteGenocideTM: @realDonaldTrump Poor Jeb. I could've sworn I saw him outside Trump Tower the other day!" reuters.com |
| 2016.01.24 | Trump spokesperson defends comments she made criticizing Obama for being "a negro” and not a "pure-breed.” rawstory.com |
| 2016.01.26 | Data analysis shows 62% of the people Trump retweeted during the week of January 19th follow at least one white supremacist account. getlittlebird.com (See also Jewish Americans) |
| 2016.02.28 | Trump refuses to denounce the support of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, claiming he has never heard of Duke despite having previously mentioned him by name. npr.org |
| 2016.02.29 | Nikki Haley calls on Trump to disavow the support of white supremacists and Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke. nytimes.com (See also Nikki Haley) |
| 2016.02.29 | Trump has 30 black college students ejected from his rally for no apparent reason. huffingtonpost.com |
| 2016.04.15 | Six former contestants from "The Apprentice" blast Trump as racist and sexist. nbcnews.com (See also Misogyny) |
| 2016.05.10 | Trump selects a White Nationalist Leader to be a Delegate in California. motherjones.com (See also 2016 Campaign, Black Americans) |
| 2016.06.03 | Trump rails against judge's "Mexican heritage," claiming unfair treatment because of it. cnn.com |
| 2016.06.07 | House Speaker Paul Ryan disavows Trump's comments about federal judge: "Claiming a person can't do the job because of their race is ... the textbook definition of a racist comment." politifact.com |
| 2016.06.21 | Trump has only Black GOP official kicked out of event with no explanation. rawstory.com (See also Black Americans, 2016 Campaign) |
| 2016.07.01 | Trump says he'll consider replacing hijab-wearing TSA agents with veterans. abcnews.go.com (See also Muslims) |
| 2016.07.22 | Trump gives White Supremacists VIP seating at the GOP Convention. littlegreenfootballs.com (See also Black Americans, 2016 Campaign) |
| 2016.11 | Southern Law Poverty Center tracks 900 hate crimes in 10 days following Trump election, linking the two. splcenter.org |
| 2016.11.18 | Trump's team said today that he had never advocated for "any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion" -- despite statements in the past that may be at odds with that. abcnews.go.com (See also Muslim Registry, Muslims, Immigration) |
| 2016.11.19 | White supremacist Richard Spencer, an advocate of "peaceful ethnic cleansing," salutes Trump victory with a Nazi gesture. theatlantic.com (See also Anti-Semitism) The Southern Poverty Law Center refers to Spencer as a white supremacist and "professional racist in khakis." |
| 2016.12.15 | Trump calls on supporters to cheer for Black Americans who "didn't come out to vote". chicagotribune.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 2016.12.21 | Comedian Tom Arnold claims to have tape of Trump saying the N-Word. mynorthwest.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 2016.12.22 | Obama just made it harder for Trump to create a Muslim Registry by ordering DHS to dismantle a dormant program that was used to track people from Muslim-majority countries. theatlantic.com (See also Muslim Registry, Muslims) |
| 2017.01.05 | After the Berlin terrorist attack in December, President-elect Donald Trump repeated his intention to build a Muslim registry, here the San Francisco Chronicle appeals to Tech CEOs to say they will not build a Muslim registry sfchronicle.com (See also Muslim Registry, Muslims) |
| 2017.01.15 | Priebus to Obama: "Step up" and quiet Democrats who question Trump’s legitimacy. washingtonpost.com (See also Reince Priebus, Mike Pence) |
| 2017.01.15 | Trump claims to cancel MLK day visit to African American history museum, but was never planning on being in Washington DC in the first place. nydailynews.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.01.18 | The Human Rights Campaign releases survey results revealing the deeply damaging fallout the November election has had on U.S. youth, 70 percent of whom have witnessed bullying, hate messages or harassment, especially that which is racially driven or targets LGBTQ populations—and transgender young people are most frequently targeted. hrc.org (See also Hate Crimes, LGBTQIA) |
| 2017.01.20 | Trump White House takes down Native Americans web page from White House website. nativenewsonline.net (See also Native Americans, Department of the Interior, Reversals, First 100 Days) Within hours of the presidential transition, the White House, took down the Native Americans web page that had been part of the Obama White House website for the previous eight years. |
| 2017.01.23 | Trump administration posts a statement on White House website that says "The dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America is wrong," and calls Black Lives Matter movement "a threat." edition.cnn.com (See also First 100 Days, Black Americans) |
| 2017.01.25 | Trump tells a story about Bernhard Langer, riddled with falsehoods and racism, to House and Senate leaders to justify voter fraud investigation. nytimes.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.01.27 | Trump says Christians will be given priority as refugees over Muslims. www1.cbn.com (See also Immigration, Muslim Immigration Ban) In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, President Donald Trump says persecuted Christians will be given priority when it comes to applying for refugee status in the United States. “We are going to help them,” President Trump tells CBN News. “They’ve been horribly treated. Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, at least very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the ... |
| 2017.02.02 | Trump plans to remove Neo-Nazi and White Supremacist groups from terror watch list and focus solely on Islamic groups. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Executive Orders, Anti-Semitism) |
| 2017.02.02 | Trump's counterterrorism efforts will focus on Islam and not white supremacists, who also have bombed and attacked U.S. citizens. reuters.com (See also Black Americans, Nationalism) |
| 2017.02.06 | Trump will not be welcome to address Parliament on his state visit to the UK because of its opposition to racism and to sexism, says Speaker John Bercow. independent.co.uk (See also First 100 Days, United Kingdom, Sexism, Misogyny) |
| 2017.02.07 | Trump tells Fox News’ Bill O'Reilly that the media and other critics are wrong when they attempt to characterize his policies as anti-Muslim or anti-black. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, False Statements, Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.02.13 | Trump administration's connection to white nationalists continues as Kellyanne Conway tweets "Love you back" to white nationalist. motherjones.com (See also Kellyanne Conway) |
| 2017.02.15 | FBI releases records on an investigation conducted in the 1970s into alleged racial discrimination in the rental of apartments from Trump's real estate company. politico.com (See also Lawsuits) |
| 2017.02.16 | Trump asks black journalist April Ryan if the Congressional Black Caucus are "friends of yours" and tells her to arrange him a meeting with them after she asks about his inner city policies. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.22 | Two Indian immigrants and a bystander shot by racist in a bar; one immigrant dies, and the shooter—who'd said the victims didn't belong in the United States—now faces first-degree premeditated murder and attempted murder charges. nytimes.com (See also Immigrants, Hate Crimes) |
| 2017.02.24 | Wealthy conservative family that helped finance Trump's election is part owner of misogynist, anti-Semitic, far-right-wing Breitbart News empire. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Facts, Misogyny) |
| 2017.02.28 | Almost a week after the shooting of two Indian men in Kansas, the White House condemns the attack, calling it 'racially motivated.' cnn.com (See also Hate Crimes, First 100 Days, Immigrants) A White House spokeswoman condemned on Tuesday the shooting of two Indian men in Kansas that gained international attention over the weekend, telling reporters that the shooting appears to be "an act … |
| 2017.02.28 | Betsy DeVos backtracks after fierce backlash to her statement that historically black colleges and universities were “real pioneers” of school choice. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Betsy DeVos, Department of Education) |
| 2017.02.28 | Trump begins his address to a joint session of Congress by condemning the recent wave of bomb threats at Jewish community centers and the vandalism of Jewish cemeteries. npr.org (See also Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Hate Crimes) |
| 2017.03.01 | NAACP releases a statement in response to Betsy DeVos' misappropriation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities as school choice. naacp.org (See also Betsy DeVos, Department of Education) |
| 2017.03.04 | Actor and U.N Goodwill Ambassador Don Cheadle says Donald Trump once asked family friend: "Would you ever f*ck a n*gger?" avclub.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 2017.03.20 | Trump brags he's made NFL coaches afraid to hire Black Lives Matter protestor Colin Kaepernick, a veteran quarterback. chicagotribune.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Black Americans) |
| 2017.03.24 | White supremacist James Jackson is charged with murdering Timothy Caughman, a black man. According to NY prosecutor Joan Illuzzi, Jackson's stated goal was to "kill as many black men as he could." aljazeera.com (See also Hate Crimes) |
| 2017.03.27 | During a press briefing, Sean Spicer refuses to comment on a direct question about the stabbing death of Timothy Caughman, a black man, allegedly by a white supremacist, instead pivoting to anti-Semitic bomb threats purportedly made by a Jewish teen. whitehouse.gov (See also Hate Crimes) |
Assessments
Scott Alexander–Slate Star Codex
Alexander considers the question, "Is Trump Racist?", in his November 2016 column, You Are Still Crying Wolf.
I stick to my thesis from October 2015. There is no evidence that Donald Trump is more racist than any past Republican candidate (or any other 70 year old white guy, for that matter). All this stuff about how he’s “the candidate of the KKK” and “the vanguard of a new white supremacist movement” is made up. It’s a catastrophic distraction from the dozens of other undeniable problems with Trump that could have convinced voters to abandon him. ...
How could Trump insult a Mexican judge just for being Mexican? I don’t know. How could Trump insult a disabled reporter just for being disabled? How could Trump insult John McCain just for being a beloved war hero? Every single person who’s opposed him, Trump has insulted in various offensive ways, including 140 separate incidents of him calling someone “dopey” or “dummy” on Twitter, and you expect him to hold his mouth just because the guy is a Mexican?
Jamelle Bouie–Slate
On Feb. 6, 2017 Bouie examined the White Nationalist project and advocates taking root in the White House, examining an essay written under the pseudonym, Publius Decius Mus:
he wrote, hailing the real estate mogul as the only figure who understood the stakes, who would beat back these “foreigners” and preserve America’s democratic tradition as Decius saw it. Not a tradition of pluralism, but one of exclusion, in which white Americans stand as the only legitimate players in political life. A dictatorship of the herrenvolk.