人兽性交 President: Social norms fraying as hate rises in Trump鈥檚 America
The moment seemed too surreal to believe.
Ten days ago, on the eve of a special election to fill Montana鈥檚 only U.S. House seat, GOP nominee Greg Gianforte was being pressed by a reporter.聽
Ben Jacobs of聽The Guardian聽wanted his response to the聽聽showing the devastation that would be caused by the House-passed bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Gianforte did not answer the question. Instead, he grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him to the ground. Then he began punching the reporter, yelling, 鈥淚鈥檓 sick and tired of you guys. 鈥 Get the hell out of here!鈥
Gianforte was . The next day, Montana鈥檚 voters .
Welcome to Donald Trump鈥檚 America.
It鈥檚 an America where the 鈥 the unwritten rules of common decency and civilized behavior that have been built up over generations 鈥 are unraveling before our very eyes.
Trump鈥檚 racially charged, xenophobic campaign, coupled with his attacks on so-called political correctness, not only energized the white supremacist movement but gave people a license to 鈥 their anger, their prejudices, their resentments.
It鈥檚 getting ugly out there. And the ugliness isn鈥檛 likely to subside any time soon.
The president has 鈥渦nearthed some demons,鈥 U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, a Republican from South Carolina, the Washington Post. 鈥淚鈥檝e talked to a number of people about it back home. They say, 鈥榃ell, look, if the president can say whatever, why can鈥檛 I say whatever?鈥 He鈥檚 given them license.鈥
The gloves are off.
But it isn鈥檛 just rude speech we鈥檙e talking about. Sometimes, hateful speech is a prelude to violence.
On Memorial Day weekend, two men on a commuter train in Portland were stabbed to death and another injured when they stood up to man who was harassing a pair of women, one wearing a hijab, with what police described as 鈥 In Washington, were intentionally run over by a white man screaming racial slurs. One died and the other was hospitalized.
We first detected what we called the 鈥淭rump Effect鈥 more than a year ago when our Teaching Tolerance project surveyed 2,000 educators in its network. A large majority of the teachers reported that Trump鈥檚 campaign rhetoric was inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom and causing a sharp uptick in the bullying of minority children. 鈥淚 think Trump鈥檚 rude and brash behavior teaches my students that they can act like that,鈥 wrote one teacher.
A second survey of 10,000 teachers in November reinforced the findings. Then, we documented nearly 900 bias-related incidents across the country in the first 10 days after the election. Many of the perpetrators referenced Trump or his campaign slogans.
This came after we all witnessed repeated instances of , sometimes encouraged by the candidate.
Now, some right-wing politicians and activists are openly embracing the rhetoric of violence 鈥 and in some cases violence itself 鈥 as a political tactic.
During a recent shoving match that passed for legislative debate in Texas, a Republican state representative a Democratic, Latino colleague after becoming angry about Latino protesters in the gallery.
After the Gianforte incident, cheered the assault and praised both Gianforte and Trump for their aggression. 鈥淭he only thing that is going to save Western civilization is a more aggressive, a more violent Christianity,鈥 he said.
Meanwhile, in Portland, the local GOP chair 鈥 armed paramilitary groups steeped in paranoia and often racism 鈥 to protect Republican politicians when they make public appearances.
We鈥檙e getting into uncharted territory here: Trump鈥檚 America, where divided we shall surely fall.
The social norms we observe allow us to build a society that aspires to fairness, equality and a common good that makes the world better for all of us. These norms are expressed in the world鈥檚 great religions, and they鈥檙e taught to generations of children in our schools, in our homes and in other institutions.
Once they鈥檙e cast aside, my guess is that it will be a serious challenge to get them back.