Trumped

By Laritza Salazar

Slapped across the page of Donald Trump's campaign site reads the slogan: Make

America Great Again. Again? It appears to be a recurring theme that white men

feel the need to save America from the greed of the poor. As much as some of us

can roll our eyes at either Trump or the hundred of jokes that have been made

towards him, it is time we take Donald Trump seriously.

The jabs made against Trump are easy. If he cant grow his own hair, how can he

grow the middle class? I get it. His comments on the immigrant population

receive waves of discomfort.

These are not just the sentiments of one man whom has the money and resources

to have them voiced, nor is this campaign a long-running Jimmy Kimmel sketch.

Currently, Trump holds a higher national Republican ratings in the primaries,

beating out all other candidates with a 24 perecent approval. He had appeared on

the cover of Time and this campaign dominates The New York Times and major

broadcast stations. The nightmare is real and Trump holds the potential to

become the Republican nominee, and perhaps even president.

Trump is to politics as Kanye West is to the media: You can criticize them or

make fun of them, but at the end of the day theyll still get attention and make

more money than you. This is what strategizing looks like. I can quote more

things that Trump has said in his campaign speeches, than Bernie Sanders and
Hillary Clinton combined. We can laugh at him, but were still listening to what

he has to say, and so are those who actually want to vote for him.

But the reason Trumps has the makings of an unqualified President is not

because he has said racist, sexist and classist comments. No. Trumps flaw starts

with his entitlement to everything he says and does. This is the type of

entitlement we see in young kids because they dont know betterthe if I cant

have it nobody can and I want to boss but not be bossed kind of attitude.

Translation: the ultimate form of hypocrisy.

When Donald Trump says: Lets make America great again, hes not referencing a

greatness that was great for all. Think about it: What made America so great

before? The property laws that denied people of color to accumulate wealth? The

forced assimilation and internment camps designed for the boxes checked

other? The removal of native people in the name of manifest destiny?

Trump wants to deport any immigrants, yet makes no mention of his immigrant

wife. This is because his marriage is a reflection of his coded selectivity,

something which, when translated says: These people deserve to be here because

they uplift my self-preserving agenda.

Trumps desire to deport certain demographics reflects a fear about the current

social shift in America. It is estimated that by 2060 the white population will

decrease to 43 percent as opposed to the current 60 percent. For the first time in

America, white people are becoming the minority, and this could mean a change

in the distribution of wealth, power and opportunity in the U.S.

So we watch The Daily Show or This Week Tonight: With John Oliver, laugh, and

we pat ourselves on the back for being so politically aware. But we are far from it.

Being able to satirize campaigns on some level reflects our knowledge of them,

but not our understanding of what is really going on.

Trumps real goal is not to make America great again, it is to keep it the way it has

been. What he fails to understand is that when other people gain rights youve

always had, it does not in any way diminish your own.