By David K. Shipler
President Trump might be erratic
and unpredictable in many areas of public concern, as when he tweeted his
disapproval this week—and then, 90 minutes later, his approval—of renewing the
government’s authority to collect Americans’ international communications
without warrants. His multiple positions on extending permission for Dreamers
to stay in the US have been dizzying, and his oscillation between assailing and
extolling China seems to depend on how recently the Chinese leadership has
feted and flattered him.
But his contempt for people who are
not whites of European origin has been as steady as his obsequious adulation of
Vladimir Putin and his rampant deregulation of American industry. These seem to
be unshakable pillars of attitude and policy, standing solidly against the
swirling, impulsive chaos of his White House. Trump has been a dependable
bigot, painting entire racial and ethnic groups with the broad brush of prejudice.
Nobody should be surprised. He has
a long history. In 1972, federal investigators sent “testers” into a Brooklyn
housing development managed by Trump’s company. After a black woman was told
that there were no vacancies, a white woman was given a choice of two
apartments. Extensive further evidence led to one of the largest civil-rights lawsuits in
history.
