It's Not Trump, It's His Follwers - and a Coming Latino Tipping Point Victor Landa - NewsTaco
go to original September 15, 2015

Protestors voiced their opinions against Donald Trump during a march and rally this week in Dallas. (The Dallas Morning News)

The thing that bothers me the most about Donald Trump isn’t what he says. In fact, I’d like for him to say more of it. It doesn’t bother me that Trump has gone from side-show to main attraction.

What bothers me is that the Trump surge has given observers and pundits an excuse to dust-off the Latino “sleeping giant” myth, and use it to further Trump’s cause.

Here’s what I mean: As long as Latinos are framed as a sleeping giant, it’s OK to stand around and wait, watching for the awakening to happen. This weekend a female Trump supporter took a sign that read “Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent About The Things That Matter” from the hands of a Latino protester, ripped it in two, smiled and shrugged. The sign holder was one of a small group of people who had gathered at an Iowa State football game, signs in hand, to voice their objections to Trump’s divisive rhetoric.

It was a relatively small incident in a corner of Iowa, witnessed by a few dozen people. But it’s that kind of incident that bothers me because they’ve become normal. This incident and others like it are small instances of overt intolerance that have become common as Trump grows in right-wing popularity. The latest poll out of New Hampshire gives Trump a 28 percent favorability.

It’s become acceptable to see this kind of intolerance and wait to see if the slumbering giant twitches. The problem, though, isn’t the “giant,” nor is it Trump. The problem is the 28 to 30 percent of polled Americans who like what Trump is saying, hide behind his words and think it’s acceptable to uncheck their ignorance.

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Related: Twitter Users Threaten to Move to Mexico if Trump Is Elected (The Hill)

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