Ellis Cose

Opinion columnist

Remember the old days — say four or five years ago — when America seemed on the verge of vanquishing racism? Remember when the man in the Oval Office radiated decency and encouraged us to accept all fellow humans as worthy of compassion and respect? What a difference a president makes!

How much does President Donald Trump have to do with the ugliness that has permeated the public square? Impossible to say with any precision. What we do know is that white supremacists consider Trump one of their own. They take glee in his warm embrace of “very fine people” who attack anti-racism marchers and who revere that “great” Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

In this Trumpian environment, no one is surprised that some fraternity brothers from Ole Miss (which saw people killed during its 1962 integration battle) would pose with guns in front of a bullet-ridden plaque honoring Emmett Till.

Anglo-Saxon impunity

It was 1955 when Till, a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago, was kidnapped, tortured, shot and then tossed into the Tallahatchie River attached to a 75-pound weight, for supposedly flirting with a white woman in Money, Mississippi. Till’s mother refused to accept her son’s murder quietly. More than 50,000 people showed up for his funeral in Chicago, and his death became a linchpin for the modern civil rights movement.

Months after Till’s murder, two brothers stood accused of the crime in what came to be known as the “wolf whistle” killing trial. Defense attorney John Whitten argued that no murder had taken place — that somehow, unnamed racial agitators had arranged for a dead body to be passed off as Till’s. Whitten told the all-white jury that he was “sure every last Anglo-Saxon one of you has the courage to free these men” in the face of “pressure” from “rabble rousers.” After 67 minutes of deliberation, the jurors proved Whitten right, exonerating the brothers.

The confidence that Whitten had in his jury is parallel to the confidence Donald Trump has in his so-called base. His supporters understand the importance of defending Anglo-Saxon supremacy against all threats (real or imagined) — which brings me to Trump’s attack on Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

'A child is sitting in their own feces'

Trump was angry that Cummings had the temerity to criticize administration policies that have resulted in child abuse. Earlier this month, in one of the more memorable tirades ever heard in Congress, Cummings blasted acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, who had testified the department was “doing our level best in a very challenging situation.”

“What does that mean when a child is sitting in their own feces, can’t take a shower?” Cummings shot back. “None of us would have our children in that position. They are human beings.”

Rather than acknowledge that Cummings had an unassailable point, that a decent society does not imprison children and then deny them soap and water and force them to sit in their own feces, Trump attacked Cummings' majority-black district as “far worse” than living under the custody of the Border Patrol. “Cumming District (sic) is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place,” the president of the United States tweeted.

Cummings essentially ignored the attack, responding, “Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors. It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.” Cummings did not bother to call out the president’s racism or to note that Trump invariably ends up attacking black and brown people with the same tired tropes.

Cheering for racism

Several news organizations noted that Cummings' congressional district has a higher median annual income than the South Carolina district once represented by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and a poverty rate that's nearly the same. It’s worth noting that Trump is not ordering Mulvaney to stay in his own rodent-infested district and clean up the vermin. But we know better than to expect equal treatment from Trump.

In Trump’s view, whites can go wherever they want in America, but he wants a black congressman to stay in his district. And he wants black and brown congresswomen to “go back” to whatever godforsaken hellhole he believes black and brown come from. Even as Trump defends forcing brown immigrant children to sit in their own feces as a necessary part of defending American against an “infestation” of brown gang members, Trump demands credit for being the “least racist” person ever. I suppose we can put that statement alongside actor Jon Voight’s claim that Trump is the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.

What Trump stands for is clear. Nonetheless, it is depressing to see such vitriol spilling out of the White House. It is even more troubling that so many Americans cheer him on. Do we really want to return to the days when maintaining Anglo-Saxon supremacy justified the violent abuse and murder of black and brown children? That, in essence is the argument Trump is making.

God help us if we buy it!

Ellis Cose is the author of "The Rage of a Privileged Class" and "The End of Anger." His history of the ACLU and civil liberties in America will be published next spring by The New Press. Follow him on Twitter: @EllisCose