White Man Runs for President
The U.S. Constitution has only three qualifications for the Office of President. You must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years of age and have been a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years. However, for much of our history, there were two other de facto requirements: to be a white male and Protestant. To be male was implicit as women were not granted the vote until 1920. Blacks need not bother to apply as they were considered mere property and only 3/5 human. Their job opportunities were mostly limited to picking cotton or harvesting sugar cane.
Almost all men of power were Protestants, and a Catholic was not nominated by a major party until 1924 when the Democrats selected Alfred E. Smith, who was rejected by the voters as “beholden to the Pope.” JFK finally broke the religion barrier in 1960 after facing it head-on in a speech to a group of influential Protestant ministers.
The election of Barrack Obama seemed to bring to reality the long-unfulfilled promise that “all men are created equal.” Hillary Clinton came oh-so-close to breaking the last glass ceiling but was undone by an admitted misogynist and sexual predator (“grab ’em by the p____y”) who creepily hovered over her on the debate stage like a potential rapist in a dark alley (or in a Bergdorf dressing room).
Now we have Trump Redux who was prepared for a rematch with a frail and bumbling President Joe Biden until Biden, after much prodding, decided to withdraw and anoint his VP, Kamala Harris, as the heir to the throne. Harris has re-energized the Dems and given them hope that they can finish off the former president by reassembling the coalition that elected Biden four years ago.
Trump seems truly befuddled with how to deal with Harris, and he has regressed even further from his perverse antediluvian worldview by sinking to questioning Harris’s own racial and ethnic identities. His now infamous “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” has reminded voters of his blatantly racist history. We haven’t forgotten that he got his political start by questioning Obama’s birthplace.
Harris, who has Jamaican and Indian parents, has always identified as Black. And while Trump seemed to be coasting to victory against Biden by relying on substantive issues such as differences on immigration and managing the economy, not to mention the age issue, against Harris he has resorted to his long-time tactic of demonizing “the Other.” Without the historical advantages of most past presidents of this country, he is overtly running as the White Man in the race (despite his mysterious skin tone) protecting true Americans against “those people.”
Harris has so far taken the high road. But Trump is doubling down by following up on Truth Social, his very own social media platform, with similar remarks. It demonstrates that there is one thing Trump has been consistent about. Despite his brief flirtation (brief being about 45 seconds) with a theme of unity after the assassination attempt on his life, he has resorted to his usual Us against Them tactics. Pick your side, America. The only thing we have to lose is our democracy.
