Donald Trump supporters and the denial of racism
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Nicholas Close Subtirelu
Abstract
Donald Trump’s campaign to become president of the United States was shocking for many people. His negative representations of racialized immigrant groups were one of the most controversial aspects of the campaign, leading to frequent accusations of racism. This study explores how his supporters responded to such accusations. Discussions of racism within a pro-Trump reddit community, called “The_Donald”, were analyzed. The_Donald users adamantly denied that Trump’s statements or proposed policies were racist. Their dismissal of these accusations drew on and extended the logic of color-blind racism. They argued that such accusations were merely cynical political tactics and advocated that Trump supporters respond to them as such. Their favored response strategies superficially resembled genuine debate but were apparently intended to incite emotional responses from accusers and to compel them to disengage from conversations. The article discusses these strategies in light of the ongoing polarization of political debate around immigration.
Abstract
Donald Trump’s campaign to become president of the United States was shocking for many people. His negative representations of racialized immigrant groups were one of the most controversial aspects of the campaign, leading to frequent accusations of racism. This study explores how his supporters responded to such accusations. Discussions of racism within a pro-Trump reddit community, called “The_Donald”, were analyzed. The_Donald users adamantly denied that Trump’s statements or proposed policies were racist. Their dismissal of these accusations drew on and extended the logic of color-blind racism. They argued that such accusations were merely cynical political tactics and advocated that Trump supporters respond to them as such. Their favored response strategies superficially resembled genuine debate but were apparently intended to incite emotional responses from accusers and to compel them to disengage from conversations. The article discusses these strategies in light of the ongoing polarization of political debate around immigration.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Language aggression in public debates on immigration 1
- Thinking globally, acting locally 5
- Conditional support for territorial migrations in Serbian national discourse 33
- In transit 55
- "We mustn't fool ourselves" 79
- "A great and beautiful wall" 101
- Xenophobic Trumpeters 123
- Donald Trump supporters and the denial of racism 151
- Contributors to this issue 175
- Subject index 177
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Language aggression in public debates on immigration 1
- Thinking globally, acting locally 5
- Conditional support for territorial migrations in Serbian national discourse 33
- In transit 55
- "We mustn't fool ourselves" 79
- "A great and beautiful wall" 101
- Xenophobic Trumpeters 123
- Donald Trump supporters and the denial of racism 151
- Contributors to this issue 175
- Subject index 177
