What if Trump starts a racewar?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > What if Trump starts a racewar?

bowser: Apr 7, 2007

I haven�t experienced too much blatant racism in my life, but that�s largely because I�ve always lived in multicultural areas around Toronto. I can�t say I�ve honestly ever feared for my life because of my skin color. I wonder if in the eyes of any of my white friends, coworkers, and neighbors, I am �one of the good ones�, because I�m westernized and don�t have an accent.

Lately there�s been a doomsday scenario that�s been I�ve been thinking about. I keep telling myself that it�s extremely unlikely but I can�t shake it. Here it is:

There�s an explosion at a restaurant in Philly. As firefighters put out the blaze, Trump grabs his iPhone. Before the bodycount is known, before it can even be confirmed that the explosion wasn�t just the result of a gas leak, @POTUS tweets �Muslim Terrorist blew up that Vegan Restaurant. I promise I will get revenge for America!!" at 1 in the morning.
A drunk white guy in a Subway sees the CBS News chyron quoting Trump�s tweet. He picks a fight with a Muslim couple in the restaurant. He tells them to leave Philadelphia with a string of slurs and expletives. A fight ensues that ends with the Muslim man bleeding out after being stabbed over a dozen times. News of this event spreads rapidly, with headlines like �Trump inspires islamophobic murder�.
Rumors start to spread of more violence nationwide, potentially worldwide. Articles with headlines like �Undeniable proof that Muslim started It� and �Black Lives Matter declares �kill all whiteys�� and �Thousands of American Tourists killed in Middle East� start to spread. Twitter blocks the trending #KillAllMuslims hashtag, but not before it makes national news headlines. Factcheckers cannot keep up with all the blatant lies.
More people take up arms. Conspiracy theorists and sovereign citizens and religious extremists and gang members and second amendment people. A group of men in Phoenix don their red MAGA hats and declare open season on illegals. A UCLA student selectively targets "feminists and social justice warriors". A Muslim woman wearing a hijab is beaten to death by teenage hoodlums in London.
President Trump is blamed for starting an international race riot, but he denies any blame and insists that minorities are responsible for most of the violence and that �many people are saying that Muslims started it�.
Eventually the initial wave of violence ceases, but hate crimes skyrocket for the long-term.
Who know where things go from there. I�d like to believe Democrats would sweep in 2018 and 2020, calls for unity would prevail, and nationalist parties would lose hold worldwide� but I honestly don�t know. The wounds from an event like that would never heal, it could radically shift the politics of many countries forever.

Like I said, I know it�s highly unlikely. I know it�s an irrational fear. I started this thread to ask a few questions, and with the hope that I can put this fear to rest. I�ve got a few questions:

1. Are Nationalist and Racist ideologies going to become more prominent and powerful in the coming years? What about openly racist politicians or political parties?
2. What is racist culture like? What are the subcultures among racists? Are they just a fringe minority or do they have a significant influence in the USA and overseas? Who are their figureheads?
3. What is the extent of racism among groups like UKIP, Front National, and the Alt RIght? Is everyone aware of the racism but they�ve just learned to use Euphemisms to cover up their prejudice? Or do they genuinely believe they�re not racists?
4. Among the racist subculture, what groups are they more or less racist too? Are they all �all-or-nothing� racists or are some them okay with black people but against Arabs?
5. Do these people take fake conservative news sources seriously? Could they be susceptible to racist propaganda spread by various hate groups?
6. How improbable is the scenario I laid out above? Before you ask, yes I've already read that frontpage article.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2016 06:43

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 22:06

bowser: Apr 7, 2007

Here's a primer for the alt-right movement as explained by a prominent member of their community. Unsurprisingly, it's full of racist and anti-semitic rhetoric, but I think it's a good resource to understand the origins, beliefs, and methods of their movement.

quote:

Some of the ways the movement presents itself can be confusing to the mainstream, given the level of irony involved. The amount of humor and vulgarity confuses people. The true nature of the movement, however, is serious and idealistic. We have in this new millennium an extremely nihilistic culture. From the point when I first became active in what has become the Alt-Right movement, it was my contention that in an age of nihilism, absolute idealism must be couched in irony in order to be taken seriously. This is because anyone who attempts to present himself as serious will immediately be viewed as the opposite through the jaded lens of our post-modern milieu.

Thus why they laugh their asses off when the media talks about Pepe being a symbol of hate.

Here's another article that goes into what the alt-right wants from the Trump administration.

quote:

The alt-right’s priority, first and foremost, is preserving America’s status as a white-majority nation. To that end, they want Trump to follow through on the most extreme immigration ideas he’s discussed — such as deporting millions of undocumented immigrants and banning Muslim immigration. These steps, they think, will slow what they call the “dispossession” of America’s whites.

But the alt-right wants Trump to go even further. They want him to slash rates of legal immigration and defund groups that advocate for immigrants, like La Raza. Ultimately, they want Trump to push the boundaries of acceptable opinion to the point where the nakedest of naked racism becomes permissible in mainstream public discourse.

...

The alt-right believes, at its core, that the American government has been poisoned. Poisoned, specifically, by the ideology of tolerance and multiculturalism. So long as the United States is officially committed to the idea that all people should be treated equally, regardless of race or creed, then it cannot take the steps necessary to make America a nation for whites.

Undoing this means going further than shifting immigration policy, even dramatically. It means shifting the lens through which Americans see politics — ushering in a new, racially polarized discourse in which openly racist arguments once again become acceptable to make.

bowser fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Nov 28, 2016

# ¿ Nov 28, 2016 17:23

bowser: Apr 7, 2007

Pure bait. I can already predict the follow-up tweet when some idiot falls for it. "Anti-Trump protestors burn American flag just like ISIS! Sad!" :rolleyes:

One thing I'd like to discuss is the overlap in goals between Islamophobes and Muslim extremists - both want Muslims living in the west to feel unsafe and alienated. The former presumably wants them to self-deport while the latter wants them to turn to radicalism. How is this going to play out in the next 4 years? Should we expect an increase in organized or lone wolf style terrorist attacks, and what will be the response from President Trump and white nationalists? Is the Muslim immigration ban likely to pick up steam and become a mainstream position for the GOP?

# ¿ Nov 29, 2016 16:44

bowser: Apr 7, 2007

little munchkin posted:

why would Trump care about a vegan restaurant, op?

He would never care, but he'd probably take advantage of the situation and pretend to care because it gets him media attention.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2016 22:43

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > What if Trump starts a racewar?