“Democrat Savages,” President Trump recently tweeted, are driving the impeachment against him. When he then named in particular two Jewish congressmen and four congresswomen of color — Jerry Nadler of New York, Adam Schiff of California and the quartet that includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — the racist connotations of the “savage” slur buzzed.
Among other tactics, Mr. Trump is fighting impeachment by defaulting to his go-to electoral strategy. The stock defense among embattled politicians in general — and Mr. Trump in particular — is a story of “us” harassed by “them.” For Mr. Trump, this often means painting his antagonists in racist and anti-Semitic hues.
How should Democrats, on and off the debate stage, respond to Mr. Trump’s political weaponization of racism? There is now good evidence that the best response involves adding class to race. CONT.
Ian Haney López (UC Berkeley), New York Times