Donald Trump’s pledge to fight what he calls “anti-white feeling” in the U.S. will likely embolden allies who seek to dismantle government and corporate programs created to battle racism and boost diversity in American life.

Some high-profile supporters of the former president, now the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, say policies for safeguarding people of color in classrooms, workplaces and charities should be repurposed to protect the rights of white people as well.

“I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country,” Trump told Time in an interview published on Tuesday. “I don’t think it would be a very tough thing to address, frankly. But I think the laws are very unfair right now.”

Trump did not specify examples of anti-white bias nor policy prescriptions in the interview.

  • edric
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    221 year ago

    Ah yes, the playbook of declaring war against something you made up or doesn’t exist.

  • @[email protected]
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    101 year ago

    STOP Lumping me in with those Dumb Italians! I’m IRISH! I’m NOT Italian! I’m NOT Greek! I’m NOT Canadian! NOT ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE THE SAME!

  • @[email protected]
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    631 year ago

    The real problem is the zero-sum mentality underlying the Conservative movement under Trump. Everything is a contest, and when the other side wins, your side loses. There is no room for competing views about America, views in which we all benefit. Any policy which doesn’t directly benefit their side must be harmful. There must be in-groups that include them, and out-groups that include people they disagree with.

    DEI, if done right, recognizes the benefit they people of all backgrounds can bring. There’s no inherent discrimination against white people, but rather an acknowledgement that we can all benefit from diverse viewpoints. Sometimes you have to go out of your way to find those people, because the “system” may not be tuned to finding them.

    Trump, though, cannot acknowledge that there can be policies that benefit everyone. There are winners and losers, and he sees himself as the ultimate winner. He will do whatever he can to make sure he stays winning - and it might be more important that his perceived enemies are seen as losers.

    • Tiefling IRL
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      1 year ago

      It has the same energy as claiming all criticism of Netanyahu is antisemitism

    • @[email protected]
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      121 year ago

      This is something I don’t understand. These people also think that the confederacy is white heritage. Attacking racism or the confederacy is an attack on whites to them. Didn’t white people fight against the confederacy? Didn’t they fight against racism? Why do they always choose the losing side?

      • @[email protected]
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        111 year ago

        Your primary mistake is expecting cognition out of dimwits who want to install a dictator who has already done one insurrection.

      • @[email protected]
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        41 year ago

        I think they are looking at it specifically as their “white heritage” not the white heritage. The Daughters of the Confederacy movement made a big concerted effort to mythologize Confederate history which was easy in America where people are used to making uncomplicated heroes and sages of their historical personages. They put those figures literally on a pedestal and created a culture of reverent pride around them. People learned to value those connections so now - when the dismantling of those pedestals is happening they feel like something is getting taken away that they liked.

        It’s a difficult conversation to logic them out of because a lot of them learned this stuff from school where the texts all follow the well trodden fallen heroes narrative. For a lot of them that’s the last educational authority they really trusted because they were kids.

  • @[email protected]
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    231 year ago

    I don’t think there are very many people in the US who are “anti-white.” I think a majority of Americans are against white supremacism, or a racial hegemony/hierarchy that has “whites” at the top. That doesn’t mean I want a hierarchy that has another group at the top, I want no hegemonic order at all. I think most Americans would prefer it if we could all just see each other as, well, Americans.

    I realize that’s easier said than done in this very divided era. I can’t deny that I have a hard time seeing some people as my countryman, because their culture, beliefs, and ideals are so much different than mine. I’d like it if we could reach some kind of consensus on what it means to be an American. I think we will reach a consensus, but getting there is going to be… contentious.

    • Omega
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      121 year ago

      I’m certain there are people racist against white people. But I’ve never felt like a political party was anti-white. I’ve never felt attacked as a white person.

      I think some people have been taught by their parents that their identity is tied to their heritage. And their heritage happens to be slave owners, or in some cases traitors who committed treason to protect slavery.

  • Flying Squid
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    111 year ago

    The only ‘anti-white’ people I’ve ever met are the white people who say I’m not white because I’m a Jew. Elon Musk would be that sort of person.

    That sounds pretty anti-white to me.

    But I don’t know that they would see it that way.

    • Optional
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      231 year ago

      Yes but have you considered that BiDeN iz GeNoSiDes?!1

      Both sides! Don’t vote! Hail Putin!

      Oops not that last one. Heh heh.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        By all means vote for the best option available to you, but that doesn’t undo that it’s still a shitty choice.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 year ago

      As white male that’s well off, this nails it.

      Anyone who auto jumps to “you’re racist” just muddies the waters and is as divisive as the opposite viewpoint (ie. not helpful).

      • @[email protected]
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        51 year ago

        Granny Weatherwax, the witch from Discworld discussing theology with a young priest:

        “There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.”

        “It’s a lot more complicated than that–”

        “No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”

        “Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes–”

        “But they starts with thinking about people as things…”