We’ve heard a couple accusations now of folks having heard Donald Trump using the N-word. Enough that we gather it’s just part of his vernacular — if he assumes no one is around who will bust him.
And once again on Thursday we read a story of a time he was heard saying it on The Apprentice. But the reason this story matters even more now? It isn’t just a did-he-or-didn’t-he breach this social contract not to say a word we all agree has a despicable history. It’s the way he allegedly used it, too. The context. Some who blast the woke, the politically correct, the SJWs, etc, they often try to argue context matters. So let’s look at the context here.
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The story, in Slate, features Apprentice producer Bill Pruitt recounting his version of a conversation in which he swears the future president dropped the N-bomb. He says the conversation was about the finalists for Season 1, Bill Rancic and Kwame Jackson. Pruitt says Trump was in a huddle with his own exec Carolyn Kepcher and showrunner Jay Bienstock, and they were debating who should get the job, or whatever it was they said was happening for the winner. Pruitt recalls Kepcher told Trump:
“I think Kwame would be a great addition to the organization.”
To which Trump responded:
“Yeah, but, I mean, would America buy a n***** winning?”
Pruitt recalls most there were stunned into silence, something Trump took no notice of — as this was just his normal way of speaking, not meant to shock. It’s just how he thought. The showrunner, says Pruitt, quickly changed the subject to “keep the train moving.” Presumably he’s already thinking that moment — which was supposedly being filmed — was going to be edited out of the show anyway, so they needed more footage of deliberation. And you know what? They moved on. No one was brave enough to lose their job, no one had the courage of their convictions… or none had any convictions, take your pick.
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Anyway, here’s the thing. Trump wasn’t joking. Pruitt points out this was Trump being dead serious as he was “adamant about not hiring Jackson.” See, this is the issue we want to focus on. If he used the word, that’s already damning enough. But the word is so bad because of what it represents — and we’d argue everything it represents is right there in the sentiment of the sentence as a whole.
He’s declaring he does NOT want the Black man to win the competition, to be given a job in the Trump organization. And he’s saying it specifically because he’s Black. He also assumes viewers will feel like he does. “Would America buy” this happening, that’s what he’s asking. The Black competitor winning, getting the job. He feels like this is such an implausible outcome in his mind, such an unthinkable end to the season, he can’t believe anyone would accept it. So that’s the context. Take out the slur, and this sentence would still be grotesque even if he said “African American.” It’s a display of explicit racist thought either way.
The (alleged) casual use of such a slur is only a symbol. A symptom of something deeper. We safely presume a person who uses the N-word thinks this way, that Black people are worth less, are not as smart or valuable. But he’s straight up telling them he thinks this way! It’s the intent!
No wonder Kwame himself has said for years Trump was racist — even if some refuse to see it…
What do YOU think of this latest story of Trump’s racism? You can read Pruitt’s full account HERE.
[Image via NBC/Salon/YouTube.]
