A child is not born with hate, it is
something which must be taught. The over-the-top drama of the current
Presidential election in the United States is having a significant
effect on children all across America. Not only has Trump's success
in spreading his anti-immigrant and nativist message emboldened
current white supremacist groups he is also creating the next
generation of white supremacists, KKK members and neo-Nazis.
America's children are being indoctrinated into an ideology of hate
through the actions of adult Trump supporters and via the media's
coverage of Trump's campaign.
Giving hate a voice
Ever since Trump
announced his run for President in December 2015 there have been
dramatic increases in anti-Muslim violence. During that month
violence against Muslims occurred every single day. Violence against
Muslims tripled during this time period with almost half of the
occurrences being directed towards mosques. One-third of all violent
attacks were directed at Muslims during this month. Three of the
attacks were perpetrated by attackers who publicly supported Trump (1).
It seems that
Trump's rhetoric has emboldened racists and white supremacists to act
out their beliefs violently. Additionally, white supremacists have
used the Trump campaign as a vehicle to express their ideology of
hate via American politics. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke
endorsed Trump for President. When Trump was first asked to denounce
the KKK leader's endorsement, he balked. White nationalist Jared
Taylor has also endorsed Trump's campaign (2). Essentially, Trump's
success in taking over the GOP has given the ideologies of hate
groups a voice in public spaces where these ideas were once thought
of as taboo.
The children are listening
Increased social
acceptance of this type of rhetoric exposes more children to ideas of
racial stereotypes. Studies have long shown that children as young as
three years old are aware of racial differences between people. By
four years of age children examined in these studies have been shown
to have the potential of “expressing strongly entrenched
race-related values” (3).
Also, it does not
take much exposure to racist ideologies for children to ingrain these
ideas into their psyche and understanding of others. A recent study
has shown that children internalize racist ideas in just a few days
(4). Now, just imagine children being exposed to months upon months
of sensational coverage and material of Trump and his hateful ideas
on social media, radio and television.
The Trump effect and children
Expressions of
racism by Trump and his supporters have been having a profound effect
on children and their behavior. Teachers report witnessing increases
in bullying, intimidation and harassment of students of
nationalities, religion and races which have been targeted by the
Trump campaign, according to a report released by the Southern
Poverty Law Center. Anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment has
significantly increased, according to one-third of the teachers
surveyed (5).
Pathway to radicalization
Now picture Trump actually winning the Presidency. Imagine these same children
experiencing not only months of racist messaging, but four years or
even eight years of Trump using the Presidential bully pulpit to
spread his hate rhetoric? This would create the perfect fertile soil
for radicalization of these children in their teen years. In fact,
this is the usual age that white supremacist groups are able to
recruit members into their movement.
Many known hate
group leaders were radicalized during their teen years. Some of the
more notable hate leaders who were radicalized as teenagers include,
former KKK leader David Duke, former (now-reformed) neo-Nazi leader
Frank Meeink, segregationist leader J.B. Stoner and now-reformed
neo-Nazi James Fry (6)(7)(8)(9).
Trump is currently
planting seeds for the development of the next crop of white
supremacist leaders. The longer he is in power, the stronger the
American white supremacist movement will become in the future. None
of the other current Presidential candidates would come even close to
this type of effect on America's children.
Sources
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