“Trump and racial equality in America? No pretense at all!”

ABSTRACT

This article explores the effects of the Trump administration’s racist words, policies, and behaviours on the increased racial divisions in the United States and the erosion of faith in American institutions. Many Americans have come to recognize that racial injustice is an enduring feature of American society. Recent events, such as the murder of George Floyd, have led to calls for racial justice. What is the definition of racial justice and how is it related to the concepts of structural inequality, systemic racism, structural racism, and institutional racism? The questions arises: What does racial justice look like in the present atmosphere in the United States? Is racial justice possible in a society riven by racial inequality? What about the wounds and scars from four years of Trump and his administration? Using a practical and policy-oriented definition of racial justice shows that Trump and his administration were not merely unconcerned about racial justice issues, but that they actually appeared to set out to exacerbate and inflame racial issues in the United States. Moreover, the damage done to the progress of America’s communities of colour, especially Black Americans, continues to manifest itself, despite Trump no longer being in office.

KEYWORDS:

• Racism
• systemic racism
• structural inequality
• racial justice
• racial accountability

Acknowledgements

I want to thank Duke political science graduate students Jared Clemons and Jasmine C. Smith, both Ph.D. candidates, for their assistance with research for this paper. Their contributions to my thinking about this topic are throughout the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This section is drawn from material from Democracy in Colour, August 25, 2020, “The Trump Administration’s Record of Racism.” https://democracyincolor.com/recordofracism/#first100days

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Paula D. McClain

Paula D. McClain is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Professor of Public Policy at Duke University. She is also Dean of The Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education.