Articles

Trump’s Growing Appeal to People of Colour, by Spencer Sunshine – 12 December 2024

From The Battleground

Far-right demagogue Donald Trump wasn’t just re-elected. The Republican Party took control of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

However, there was a second shock to many: a full one-third of Americans of colour voted for Trump.

Antifascists have always known that there were persons of colour on the far right, from the Trumpist mainstream to Neonazis.

After all, there is nothing unique to white people about ultranationalism; opposition to democracy and equality in favour of authoritarianism and conservative social hierarchies; and, of course, antisemitism, racism, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia.

But even with highly visible far-right leadership from people of colour during Trump’s first term—for example, the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, is Afro-Cuban—their presence has continued to bewilder many on the left.

One of the main reasons for this is that left-leaning activists have come to adopt the theory that Trump and his supporters are nothing but White Supremacists; that the takeover of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 was a racist revolt despite prominent leaders being people of colour; and that any minorities who supported Trump were mere dupes who only wanted to “participate in whiteness”.

In other words, race—and racism—were seen as the primary, if not sole, driver for Trump’s popularity.

But people of colour have been moving steadily to the right for years.

[READ THE REST]

Spencer Sunshine is a longtime researcher of the far right and the author of ‘Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege’.

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