Even in the liberal haven of Berkeley, CA at a school named for civil rights icon Rosa Parks, a teacher told of over-hearing taunts such as: "You'll get deported." "You weren't born here." "You were born in a Taco Bell." The teacher said, "They may not know what it means, but they know it's powerful language."
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crimes and hate speech, did an online survey of 2,000 K-12 teachers. They found, at all levels of elementary, middle, and high schools, that racist taunts and toxic political rhetoric is cropping up everywhere, with no special concentration in any state or region.
The study's author said that: “Marginalized students are feeling very frightened, especially Muslims and Mexicans. Many teachers use the word terrified.” The children are "echoing Donald Trump's rhetoric. . . . Bad behavior has been normalized."
More than half of the teachers reported an increase in "uncivil political discourse," and more than a third have observed "an increase in anti-Muslim or anti-inmigrant sentiment." One North Carolina teacher reported Latino students carrying their birth certificates and social security cards to school, fearful that they might be picked up for deportation. One student anxiously asked every day: "Is the wall here yet?”
In high school students, chanting "Trump, Trump, Trump" has become a way of expressing hatred. Joe Enriquez Henry, head of the Iowa chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said: “Those in the white community with a racist slant are now jumping on the bandwagon using the name Trump and the phrase Make America Great Again to tell people of color, especially Latinos, you are not welcome here.”
The study's author said that Trump seems a perfect candidate for seventh-grade boys. "They like his loudness, rudeness and brashness." With some, it seems to be just a "shiny new object. It’s his celebrity.” But there is real concern about the impact on the Latino children, being constantly told that they don't belong. All the talk about "Build a wall" to keep them out implants the idea that "they have a toxic identity that needs to be walled off."
And all of these observations were before the tragic shooting in Orlando and the subsequent intensification of anti-Muslim, xenophobic rantings coming from Trump and other conservatives. It will only increase now. And it will not be lost on the children.
Let's hope this backfires on Trump and on all the spineless Republicans who have climbed on his bandwagon and now wish they hadn't. The fear is that it will go the other way, that it will become a firestorm instead of a backfire. Especially if there are more terrorist attacks. ISIS would rejoice over a Trump election. What great recruiting propaganda for them; what a vindication of their claim that 'America hates Islam.'
Ralph
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