The Final Call

Trump, 'The Squad' and continued unmasking of White Supremacy

By Askia Muhammad -Senior Editor- | Last updated: Jul 23, 2019 - 10:12:39 AM

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(Left to right) Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna S. Pressley, respond to President Donald Trump’s attacks. Photos: MGN Online

WASHINGTON—In less than a week in July, President Donald J. Trump managed to plunge the national political discourse to a new low, then lower still, with hateful, racist Twitter attacks on four non-White, freshman Democratic members of Congress—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), known collectively as “The Squad.”

He continued by stoking fears of approaching fascism at a raucous campaign rally where his supporters boisterously chanted “send her back,” when the president singled out Rep. Omar.

With only four Republican’s on their side, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives then passed a resolution July 16 condemning the president’s conduct as “racist,” specifically his tweets which called for the four congresswomen, to “go back” to their home countries. All four are U.S. citizens.

President Donald Trump holds ‘MAGA’ campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, July 17.

The resolution, the first condemning an incumbent president since Andrew Jackson was censured by the Senate in 1834, resolved that the House “strongly condemns President Donald Trump’s racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color.”

At first, Mr. Trump was contrite, but then he lashed out again. Less than 24 hours after telling reporters that he was “not happy” with the “send her back” chant against Rep. Omar at his reelection rally, Mr. Trump reiterated the widely condemned message.

“It is amazing how the Fake News Media became ‘crazed’ over the chant ‘send her back’ by a packed Arena (a record) crowd in the Great State of North Carolina, but is totally calm & accepting of the most vile and disgusting statements made by the three Radical Left Congresswomen …” the President said via Twitter July 19.

But the members of The Squad were unrepentant, and as the controversy continued, their ranks swelled. “I also would like to just underscore the fact that despite the occupant of the White House attempts to marginalize us and to silence us, please know that we are more than four people,” Rep. Pressley told reporters on Capitol Hill.

“We ran on a mandate to advocate for and to represent those ignored, left out and left behind. Our squad is big. Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world. And that is the work that we want to get back to. And given the size of this squad and this great nation, we cannot, we will not, be silenced,” she said.

Rep. Omar stated: “As Martin Luther King (Jr.) said, ‘All we say to America is, be true to what you say on paper.’ I believe this is a pivotal moment in our country. The eyes of history (are) watching us. Right now, the president is carrying out mass deportation raids across this country, in each one of our districts. Right now, the president is committing human rights abuses at the border, keeping children in cages and having human beings drinking out of toilets” she complained.

“I am not surprised when the president says that four sitting members of Congress should, quote, ‘go back to their own country,’ when he has authorized raids without warrants on thousands of families across this country. I am not surprised that he uses the rhetoric that he does when he violates international human rights and takes thousands of children away from their families, said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

“I am not surprised that he has turned our public education system, under the leadership of Betsy DeVos, into a cash cow to enrich himself and his friends. I am not surprised when he corrupts via the secretary of transportation. I am not surprised at what he’s doing,” she continued.

“But I also know that we’re focused on making it better, because we don’t leave the things that we love. And when we love this country, what that means is that we propose the solutions to fix it,” said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

“As we all know, the recent tweets and words from the president are simply a continuation of his racist and xenophobic playbook,” Rep. Tlaib told the press conference. “We cannot allow these hateful actions by the president to distract us from the critical work to hold this administration accountable to the inhumane conditions at the border, that is separating children from their loved ones and caging them up in illegal, horrific conditions,” she stated.

“I represent the third-poorest congressional district in this country, one that is made up of working people, who have been targeted by this administration, and their actions and words are hurting them today,” Rep. Tlaib continued. “I was elected to fight for them, fight for the 13th Congressional District. They sent me here to Congress to fight back against the corporate assault and the corruption in our country.”

Except for Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and Rep. Will Hurd (Texas) and a few others, Republicans remained mostly in lockstep with Mr. Trump, or silent about his conduct. Mr. Scott, the only Black senator in the Republican caucus, criticized Mr. Trump’s attack on Rep. Omar on the grounds that it was “racially offensive.” Mr. Hurd not only said the President’s tweets were “racist” and “xenophobic,” but also labeled them “inaccurate.” “The four women he is referring to are actually citizens of the United States, three of the four were born here,” said Mr. Hurd, who is also Black. “It’s also behavior that’s unbecoming of the leader of the free world.” He is the lone Black Republican in the House of Representatives.

Every person in public office should condemn Mr. Trump, according to Melanie Campbell, CEO of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation. “No person who calls himself a public servant should use his position to direct racist insults towards anyone, including public officials,” she said in a statement.

“That sort of behavior is both disgraceful and disgusting. The American people cannot allow anyone to be subjected to insults and racist taunts, no matter who they are. We deserve better. In the end, we will need to make our feelings known at the ballot box!”

But Mr. Trump remains defiant, appearing to stoke the anger of his race-conscious political base. The congresswomen, “have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, and yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party,” he tweeted, adding: “Why isn’t the House voting to rebuke the filthy and hate laced things they have said? Because they are the Radical Left, and the Democrats are afraid to take them on.”

Ironically, as much as their outspoken conduct has exposed race hatred among White politicians and the White population, The Squad has also opened fissures among Black people as well. “I think The Squad represents who Black politicians were in the seventies and eighties,” Prof. Ray Winbush, Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University said in an interview:

“They are as outspoken as some of our first of elected national figures in the Congressional Black Caucus. People like (Rep. John) Conyers, and Ron Dellums, (who) spoke truth to power and did not care. They represent what we used to be. They’re a breath of fresh air as far as I am concerned.”

Mr. Trump may have decided to target The Squad as the “face” of the Democratic Party, as he seeks to stoke his political base, either for victory in 2020, or rebellion, Prof. Winbush fears. He will simply “run a campaign similar to 2016, alienating his opponent and making The Squad representative of the entire Democratic Caucus. It’s a smart strategy if you are a White supremacist. And apparently, it’s working because you can see the response of all but four Republican congressmen, voting against the resolution,” he added.

“We’ve seen it all over this country. People say boldly: ‘I voted for Trump,’ which essentially is saying I’m a White supremacist,” Prof. Winbush continued. White people would rather this earth be destroyed than to see non-Whites run it, Dr. Winbush believes.

“I believed that White people would destroy this planet before they allow Black people and Brown people to rule. I think that they don’t care. White people in this country don’t care. They know this guy’s destroying this economy. They know that he’s giving a tax break for the rich. They know this. They know that Obamacare would have helped everybody. They know this …,” he stated.

“They don’t want to see Black people take charge,” Dr. Winbush continued. “And that’s why these women are so dangerous, because they represent the future and White people represent the past. And that’s why when he said: ‘Make America Great Again’ he’s talking about the past.”

These armed, increasingly militant White people are itching for a confrontation, he fears. “One of my colleagues said the next year will be the most violent year in the United States since 1968. That was a year (Dr.) King got killed, and Robert Kennedy, and there were rebellions in the streets. And he said that this is going to be like that” in 2020 after the election, said Dr. Winbush.