It's no secret that American journalism is dominated by white people. (We cats almost said white men, but that's probably true, too — for all the wonderful female journalists we've been privileged to know.)
So the media have been dragging their heels on calling out Benedict Donald as racist. They've insisted on characterizing his tweets and other statements as "racially tinged" or "racially charged," but just haven't been able to bring themselves to call Trump an out-and-out racist pig. Which, as you know from his history, is what he is.
A German dad who was a member of the KKK. Getting busted for refusing to rent or sell real estate to people of color. Taking out full-page ads demanding the death penalty for the Central Park Five (who were later found innocent). Tweeting "I love Hispanics!" on Cinco de Mayo, and then caging Latin American migrants like something out of the Holocaust. Referring to African-American voters and thought leaders as "the blacks." Questioning Judge Curiel's impartiality. Saying there were "fine people on both sides" in Charlottesville. And now, this weekend's tweets. Did we miss anything? We're sure we did.
Still and all, reporters, from broadcast to print, have felt their testicles seize up when it comes to calling Trump what he deserves to be called. (Yep, we're thinking that the journos who are chickenhearted on this question are all dudes. Sue us.)
So they haven't done it — until now. Visit The Washington Post's home page and you will see this headline: "House Votes to Condemn Trump's Racist Remarks." Earlier, it was "Trump Lashes Out Ahead of House Vote to Condemn His Racist Tweets." And a breaking news banner blared, "A Divided House Votes for Resolution Condemning Trump's Racist Remarks."
Meanwhile, over at The New York Times, it's a restrained "House Votes to Condemn Trump's Language as Racist."
Why has the Post taken the lead? "The 'go back [to your country]' trope is deeply rooted in the history of racism in the United States," said executive editor Marty Baron in a statement on Monday. "Therefore, we have concluded that 'racist' is the proper term to apply to the language [Trump] used Sunday."
We're with Marty. And since Trump is so fond of dragging Israel and the Jews into all this, let's also observe that M.O.T. Marty Baron used to be editor of The Boston Globe, where he ran into stiff resistance from an insular town that reflexively protected its abusive priests and questioned his motives because he was, um, kinda not Catholic. We feel compelled to point this out on a day that Kellyanne Conway asked a reporter what his "ethnicity" was. We cats HISS.
P.S. We couldn't help noticing that Speaker Pelosi wore purple on the House floor this afternoon. Nice touch.
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