A lot of people are racist, hateful, bigoted, and these figureheads give them permission to be their worst selves. That's really the long and the short of it.
Everyone is always afraid to say why people like Trump or Marie Le Pen have some level of popularity and it’s just that there’s a lot of people in the world who believe in racism. You end up with these goofy ass explanations for Trump where it’s NAFTA or shit and it’s like no you know what it is
Now. Knowing that— admitting it and accepting it: Will you stop making excuses for them, stop looking for the "rational" reason? And just do what it takes to make sure that these people and their hateful bigoted values don't succeed?
…And yes I do believe that people can change their values and behaviour; such a change is ALWAYS possible, right up until the moment someone can't intentionally change anything about themselves ever again.
…
…And no, not everyone doing it knows that they're doing it. But being bound up within the systems of white supremacy and other bigotries can very easily lead those who profit from those systems, even unawares, to violently defend those systems.
…
…And so what that means is that we have to Keep Fighting against the harm these people do— whether they do it intentionally or unintentionally— EVEN WHILE we hope and maybe even work toward their change.
They often have a lot of benefit to themselves to defend. These systems tend to work out their own defenses.
And if the system of harm I'm contributing to is normal and the status quo and I'm A Good Person, then what I'm doing can't actually be wrong.
