Some minorities find ‘President-elect Trump’ scary prospect
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Noor Wadi, a second-year law student, cried as she hugged a friend after speaking with fellow students gathered at the University of Texas at Austin to protest the Trump election on Wednesday.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. » Across America, many members of minority groups awoke today to something that had seemed an implausible nightmare just a day earlier: President-elect Donald Trump.
After a race that shattered norms of civility and restraint, Trump’s ascendency to the White House on the power of overwhelming white support left some with the sinking feeling that they now live in a country where they simply don’t matter. Some said they even worry that they are potentially in danger because of the color of their skin, the God they worship or the language they speak.
“I’m like literally an enemy of the state now,” said Black Lives Matter activist Mercutio Southall, 32, who was roughed-up by Trump supporters a year ago after disrupting one of the candidate’s rallies in Birmingham.
Trump received minority votes in his stunning win over Democrat Hillary Clinton, and he made conciliatory comments about unity in his victory speech. But some minority citizens who didn’t support the Republican nominee said they fear what the next four years might bring.
“It looks like we are going back to the back of the bus,” said NAACP member George Rudolph, 65, a black Vietnam veteran whose wife Sarah was seriously injured in the Ku Klux Klan church bombing that killed four black girls in Birmingham in 1963.
Rudolph said Trump’s election evokes a time decades ago when segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace stoked crowds with similar rhetoric.
In Los Angeles, just hours after Trump was projected as the next president, Martha Arevalo of the Central American Resource Center said her office already was fielding calls from immigrants who fear they will be targeted for deportation under a Trump presidency.
“This is very, very scary for our families, and they are afraid,” said Arevalo, the center’s executive director. “What we are telling them is we will continue to fight and we will continue to try to protect them as much as possible.”
The nature of the divided vote is behind some of the concern. After promising to “make America great again” — which some heard as a call to return the nation to a time when white men ran almost everything — Trump won the presidency with staggering support from white men. Exit polls and unofficial returns reflected that his backers were older, more male and overwhelmingly white compared to Clinton supporters.
Clinton drew support from a diverse coalition resembling the one that twice elected Barack Obama as president. She carried women, young voters and nonwhites with margins that could leave her actually winning the national popular vote while losing the electoral tally.
At North Carolina Central University in Durham, sophomore Jamon Carlton said he still hadn’t figured out how Trump had won in a country that seemed to embrace hope and the inclusion of everyone eight years ago. He worried Trump’s victory might embolden closet bigots and lead to more dangerous displays of anger.
“It could become confrontational. Man, I hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Carlton, who voted for Clinton.
Bennett McAuley and Derrick Swick, a gay-transgender couple in Durham, said they feel especially vulnerable just weeks away from a Trump presidency. “Hell, I’m a white man and this is a really uncomfortable morning,” Swick said.
Just hours after Trump’ election, the head of Alabama’s largest Islamic congregation said he awakened to messages from female Muslims worried about whether it was safe to wear their religious coverings in public.
“People on social media and otherwise are very concerned about all the talk about banning Muslims and having Muslims to register, so there is a lot of concern,” said Ashfaq Taufique, president of the Birmingham Islamic Society.
Trump has tried to walk back some of his harshest campaign comments, such as calling Mexican immigrants “rapists;” proposing a ban on Muslims entering the United States, and advocating mass deportations. His victory speech struck a gentler tone that some found encouraging, and Clinton noted that Trump had won the right to govern.
“We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead,” she said in her concession speech.
Imelda Salazar, an immigrant rights organizer in Chicago, isn’t there yet. She broke down into tears while discussing Trump’s win.
“I haven’t slept. I’m sad. I’m angry and all that,” she said. “But one thing that stands out the most is I’m not alone.”
Javier Benavidez, executive director of the Southwest Organizing Project in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said activists there likely would hold peaceful demonstrations each time Trump visits the state as president. For now, they plan a Native American healing ceremony in reaction to his election.
“Confronting this new terrain is frightening,” Benavidez said.
Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California; Russell Contreras in Las Vegas; Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco; and Jeffrey S. Collins in Durham, North Carolina; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
20 responses to “Some minorities find ‘President-elect Trump’ scary prospect”
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Shoe is on the other foot now, how does it feel? Reminds me of eight years ago.
Unless you’ve got a third foot, you probably have no idea what you’re talking about.
Minorities have nothing to fear. They’ve been lied to by the leftist media and politicians for a year and a half now in order to build this fear and to turn peoples minds against Trump. Typical low-brow politics. The truth is, Trump never said a single racist word. He only wants to deport ILLEGAL (spelled criminal) aliens and law-breakers. Every other nation in the world does that and way more that the U.S. As for Muslims, he merely wants to vet them property so that ISIS fighters don’t slip in with the refugees. He only wanted a moratorium until these people could be properly vetted. That’s called protecting America. It is the LEFT that has taken his words and changed them for their own cowardly and false political machinations. To not accept this is to say we should NOT be a nation of laws, but a nation of anarchy. Quite passing on lies and accept what the other half of the nation knows. We need this sort of government and not the one that ending. I say good riddance!
The only minority with any fear of President Trump is the illegal alien in the United States.
I heard Donald Trump was born in Kenya.
ain’t that the truth. If Hillary had won I could imagine the illegals pouring into the US right now! I would imagine it doesn’t look to good with a Trump administration who ran deporting illegals in this country. I don’t think the Trump win = lesser illegal coming into the US today though. lol, maybe kick some illegals out for an example would do some good though, well, at least deporting illegal criminals in police custody would be a good 1st step for this admin.
Everybody is a minority in the US these days. Immigration reform is past due.
Yup, no one Rep.’s or Dem.’s wanted to tackle the Problem. Let’s pray TheDonald will “do” something to speed up legal migration into the States.
8 years ago I had pretty good healthcare so yea I know what it like to take a hit cuz of the occupant of the WH but the concerns mentioned in this article are a ridiculous figment of people’s imagination.
I’ve been whacked by Obamacare to, but to suddenly repeal it without an effective replacement is only going to cause further disruption of our health care system. Hopefully the GOP can come up with reasonable alternatives, even a serious makeover, before they pull the plug.
There have been several plans “in the works”. It isn’t abolished once repealed; timing is set as part of the transition. Thousands have lost their jobs because of the ACA..
They’ve had years to come with an alternative but haven’t done so. How to you suppose they’re going to come up with something in the next two months? Scary! Just don’t get sick.
Nothing could get done with O still in the WH. It was his way or the highway.
Yep minorities are freaking out everywhere and scared stiff – just like this one:
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/black-female-trump-supporter-stumps-news-anchors
Come on AP and SA get with the program and stop reporting spin and garbage like CNN. Many cities have fallen thanks to Barry’s party. Time to let someone else succeed or fail as the current path has indeed failed.
Funny, I’m a so-called “minority”, and I couldn’t be happier about The Donald’s win. I am absolutely confident that President-elect Trump will represent me, as well as ALL other Americans, fairly and impartially, which is more than I can say about our sitting president of the past almost 8 years.
That’s right. While it may be in the minds of many people, the reality is, if your legal you should have nothing to worry about. As for the illegals, well…….make it right or you may want to find a new country.
You can’t see that he’s a chronic liar who lies when he doesn’t even have to and apparently believes his own lies? You really think that kind of a person can represent “ALL Americans”, “fairly and impartially” yet? Auwe!
Some minorities? Only some?
Wake up and smell the coffee.
We have a president who’s No 1 priority is the USA.
No more free handouts.
If you’re an illegal, pack your bags and leave.
In 2008:
Across America, many members of majority groups awoke today to something that had seemed an implausible nightmare just a day earlier: President-elect Barrack Hussein Obama.
The shoe’s on the other foot !!!
Suck it up !!!