The images of families being separated at the border in recent weeks were horrifying at a very basic human level, so much so that it was initially difficult to think critically about the ideological principles underlying such an egregiously sadistic policy. Part of the motivation seems to have resided in a rather facile political ploy: by blaming the crisis on the ostensible legislative inaction of the Democrats, the Trump administration hoped to force the opposition party to allow passage of funding for a border wall and other signature legislative initiatives that would fulfill promises of the 2016 campaign.
But above and beyond these short term goals, the family separation campaign amplified the explicit racist message that has been at the heart of the Trumpist movement since the president famously rode down the escalator of his eponymous tower and warned of Mexican "rapists." By pushing its supporters into defending the removal of children from their parents in retribution for a misdemeanor crime, the administration effectively assigned the migrants at the border a lower moral status. This is the modus operandi of racism. The family-separation campaign thus both appealed directly to the already overtly racist elements of the Trumpist coalition and served to more deeply implicate more mainstream Trump supporters in the logic and morality of racist policy.
Jews should take note of these developments and be concerned. Modern antisemitism is a form of racism. Indeed, racism as an ideology is so inextricably intertwined with antisemitism that the realization of any policy program on racist principles will, given world enough and time, redound to the detriment of Jews. Evidence of this can be seen in the rhetoric of Trump's apologists, who consistently describe the children of migrants as "bargaining chips" or even "weapons." This is effectively identical to the rhetoric of modern antisemites, who consistently paint Jewish reproduction ("interbreeding") as part of a program of "world domination." The effect in either case is the same: to strip even childhood or family life of any semblance of innocence, and to open the community thus charged to the application of otherwise unimaginable cruelty.
Many American Jews are confused on this score, because so many of the figures around the president, even key advisors instrumental in the implementation of the family-separation plan, are Jewish. But these latter figures are playing with forces that they either do not entirely understand or are foolishly confident that they can control. The more central racism becomes to the policy agenda of the Trump administration (as opposed to its messaging, where racism is already more central than in the case of any White House since the 19th century), the more traction antisemites will gain in actual positions of power and influence. We can already see this trend at work, in the capture of the GOP nomination by several white nationalists and antisemites for the upcoming Congressional election.
Racism is key to the Trump administration's cultivation of political capital, and that tendency will accelerate if and as the continued pursuit of racist policy garners success at the polls. The midterm election will be a watershed. If the president emerges from that contest with his party still in control of both houses of Congress, it is likely that he will double down on the racist elements of his agenda. Further draconian measures against Latin@ migrants would probably be key to such a strategy, but the clear warning sign would be the expansion of aggression against groups that as yet have only been verbally antagonized, such as American Muslims.
If that should happen, Jews should take note. The history of the last two-hundred years shows that that sort of political trajectory ends in only one place. It might not happen while Trump himself is in office, given the nature of his family and inner circle. But he is not a young man, and will not be in office forever, no matter what should occur. If the racist elements of the Trumpist coalition succeed in effecting state capture to a greater degree than they already have (and their power is already distressingly substantial), the United States will not remain safe for Jews very long. Such a development would likely spell the doom of Jews everywhere, as Israel would not be able to provide an effective shield against global antisemitism outside of its alliance with the US.
This is obviously a very dire picture, and many reading it will no doubt object that it is unprecedented and unlikely. Such observations, of course, were routinely made about the prospects of a Trump presidency itself not so long ago. We live in strange and unsettled times. We should think carefully about our history as we navigate the turbulent political waters of the present day.
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