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Trump Victory Further Emboldens Displays of Racism

Racist Graffiti

A Ku Klux Klan chapter plans a victory rally in North Carolina, while racial incidents are reported at schools in Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

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While public expressions of racism were prominent during Donald Trump's run for president, they're becoming even bolder now that he's won.

A Ku Klux Klan chapter has announced plans to hold a rally in North Carolina, and there are reports of race-based harassment coming from around the nation.

The Klan group, called the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, will hold a rally December 3, reports The News & Observer of Raleigh. The group's website calls it a "Victory Klavalkade Klan Parade," and the site carries the quote "Trump's race united my people."

The group is based in Pelham, an unincorporated community near North Carolina's border with Virginia, but it has not announced a site or time for the celebration, the paper notes. There was a report of Klan activity in the state Wednesday, but it turned out to be false.

At lunchtime Wednesday at a middle school in Royal Oak, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, some students chanted "build the wall" of support for Trump's idea of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, moving Latino schoolmates to tears, The Detroit News reports.

"Tears were running down my face," Josie Ramon, a Mexican-American seventh-grader, told the paper. "I was so upset. A friend went to the bathroom crying. Everybody was chanting along with it. She was scared. She looked really upset. I felt really bad for her."

Ramon recorded a video of the incident with her phone. She sent it to her mother, and after it circulated among several people, it was posted to Facebook, where it has had more than 5 million views and been shared more than 100,000 times, the News reports.

Royal Oak superintendent of schools Shawn Lewis-Lakin then circulated a letter promising to address the incident and provide "a safe, secure, and supportive learning environment." Police were present at the school today, Raw Story reports.

At Maple Grove Senior High School in Minnesota, students came in Wednesday to find racist graffiti, including the n word, along with pro-Trump messages, according to Raw Story. The principal responded by writing a letter to all students and parents denouncing the act and promising to provide "a safe and respectful learning environment" at the school, Minnesota Public Radio reports. And students placed notes with messages of love and inclusion around the school.

And students at a vocational school in York County, Pa., marched through the halls Wednesday holding Trump signs and chanting "white power," Raw Story reports. There were also reports of fights at the school, and one female student said a male grabbed her breasts, saying it was his right. School officials are investigating.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.