During a Donald Trump rally in Birmingham, Alabama over the weekend, Black Lives Matter protester Mercutio Southall Jr. interrupted Trump’s speech by shouting “Black lives matter!” A fight broke out, and Southall fell to the ground, surrounded by an all-white crowd who kicked, punched, and shouted at the lone black man, before dragging him out of the venue.
In a video of the incident captured by CNN, Trump can be heard shouting over the crowd, “Get him the hell out of here, will you, please? Get him out of here. Throw him out!”
The Reverends Emmett G. Price III and Irene Monroe were back on Boston Public Radio for their regular Monday feature, All Revved Up, joining Margery Eagan and guest host Jared Bowen to discuss the phenomenon of Trump’s following; exploring the incident in Alabama, Trump’s proposal for a database of Muslims in the U.S., and his request to close certain mosques the presidential candidate believes are “breeding grounds” for terrorists.
“He is an equal opportunity offender,” Monroe said. “Unfortunately, he’s the Teflon man. He embodies much of the rage of this shrinking electorate. He also gives this facade, and he talks like a tough guy and has this knee-jerk response.”
According to Monroe, Trump speaks to a particular group, a “fearful electorate” who worries primarily about change in America. “They’re fearful, can they keep their guns?” Monroe said. “They’re fearful of the browning of America, they still think that our president is a Manchurian Muslim, so we have here a man who has done masterfully to capitalize on the fear of a particular population.”
This incident in Alabama—a town with a significant role in the American civil rights movement— brings up haunting memories, Monroe says. “If you’re down in Alabama, and you’re at an all-white gathering, and it’s the confederate down there, I can’t help but think that you see what we’d call a postmodern confederacy, or Klan meeting?”
In regards to Trump’s comments about Muslims, those memories are even stronger. “We think that we learn from history’s mistakes, so it reminds me of when Jews had to wear the yellow stars, and the Japanese were considered the “yellow peril,” Monroe said. “Have we not learned from this? Should the Muslims wear yellow crescent moons? What have we learned from the past, and why are we repeating this?”
Price, on the other hand, finds Trump literally unbelievable, referring to him as a “Dem plant”—a democratic plants who comes to rallies and shows the alternative perspective. “I actually think Donald Trump is a Dem plant within the Republican party,” Price said. “He’s shaken up the party so much that not even Republicans know what to do with him. For a population of individuals who are trying to garner the black and brown vote, who are trying to garner a class vote, a population who they didn’t have before, they are mucking this up very nicely.”
According to Monroe, none of the GOP candidates have aligned themselves with the Black Lives Matter movement. “The first person who came close to even uttering anything was Rand Paul,” she said. “He said what we’ve been trying to explain to people; yes, all lives matter, but we’re looking at the way in which black folks are systematically discriminated against.”
To hear All Revved Up, click the audio link above.Rev. Emmett G. Price III is a professor of music at Northeastern University, and the author ofThe Black Church and Hip Hop Culture.Rev. Irene Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist who writes forHuffington Post andBay Windows.
