Opinion: Donald Trump is as American as Jim Crow

To the editor: I’ve been waiting for someone to tell the truth about President Trump. Finally, Adam Johnson said what I’ve been saying for months, even before Nov. 8. (“Stop comparing Trump to foreign leaders. He’s a distinctly American phenomenon,” Opinion, Feb. 10)

Despite not having one grandparent born in this country and having had two immigrant wives, Trump is as American as Jim Crow, the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Japanese internment camps.

Our Constitution was built on bigotry. When the founding fathers said that all men were created equal, they meant only white men and no women. They certainly didn’t mean my male ancestors, who were slaves, or the Native Americans, who were targeted for extermination.

I also appreciate Johnson’s point that, unlike the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, Trump wants to use his power to serve the rich and white, not the poor and indigenous.

We need to stop calling him a populist. Bernie Sanders is a populist; Trump, like so many other powerful Americans from our past and present, acts like a bigot.

Mary Sisney, Claremont

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