Why Donald Trump's"Birther" Campaign is Dangerous and Why We Should Boycott Everything Trump Owns

Why Donald Trump's "Birther "Campaign is Dangerous and Why We Should Boycott Everything Trump Owns

Professor Mark Naison
Fordham University



The "birther" accusations seized upon by Donald Trump as his fast track to the Republican nomination are particularly toxic because they conflate the historic fear and hatred of Blacks-with all its awesome, subliminal power- with rapidly escalating fear of immigrants and Muslims. Obama, to birthers, is a "triple threat" who combine all their fears in one- Black, Muslim, immigrant! To more than a few white Americans, Barack Obama's ascension to the Presidency is a nightmare of epic proportions, a sign that good hardworking white Christian people like them have been pushed aside and the country has been taken over by imposters. It is paranoia of the highest order, akin to the fantasies of Jewish control and manipulation spun by Hitler durinng his rise to power in Germany, but it is clearly very powerful if an oppportunist like Trump can seize upon it and move so quickly to the head of the Republican field that Sarah Palin has been pushed out of the headlines. At first, I thought Trump was a joke. No more. His campaign is starting to get scary because it is almost entirely based on racial fears of America's rapidly diminishing white majority. That's why I agree with my friend and fellow blogger Helen Burleson. We need to stike quickly, and stike hard and boycott everything Trump owns.

April 25, 2011