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1968 and
2016:
Political
Dé jà vu
By Ken
Coleman/Tell
Us USA
News
Network
DETROIT
(Tell Us
USA) -
During
his
dark,
76-minute
nomination
acceptance
speech
at the
Republican
National
Convention
on July
21,
Donald
Trump, a
Queens-born
billionaire
uttered
the
phrase
“law-and-order.”
No, it
wasn’t a
pop
culture
reference
to the
long-running
NBC
drama
series
based in
New York
City.
Rather,
it was a
reactionary
code
phrase
whose
origin
dates
back to
the
1960s.
In fact,
Richard
Nixon
used it
during
his
successful
1968
campaign
for the
White
House
amidst a
season
of urban
rebellion
in
Harlem;
the
Watts
section
of Los
Angeles;
Newark,
New
Jersey;
Detroit;
and
Cleveland
where
this
year’s
Republican
Party
convention
was
held.
Flashback
to 1968.
During
his
acceptance
speech
in Miami
Beach,
Nixon,
the
Republican
Party
nominee,
stated:
“The
wave of
crime is
not
going to
be the
wave of
the
future
in the
United
States
of
America.
We shall
re-establish
freedom
from
fear in
America
so that
America
can take
the lead
in
re-establishing
freedom
from
fear in
the
world.
And to
those
who say
that law
and
order is
the code
word for
racism,
there
and here
is a
reply:
Our goal
is
justice
for
every
American.
If we
are to
have
respect
for law
in
America,
we must
have
laws
that
deserve
respect.”
Similarly,
Trump,
in a
speech
written
by
Stephen
Miller,
a
30-year-old
former
speechwriter
for
ultra-conservative
U.S.
Senator
Jeff
Sessions
of
Alabama
and Tea
Party
darling
U.S.
Rep.
Michele
Bachman
of
Minnesota,
offered
the
following
during
his
Republican
Party
convention:
“America
was
shocked
to its
core
when our
police
officers
in
Dallas
were
brutally
executed.
In the
days
after
Dallas,
we have
seen
continued
threats
and
violence
against
our law
enforcement
officials.
Law
officers
have
been
shot or
killed
in
recent
days in
Georgia,
Missouri,
Wisconsin,
Kansas,
Michigan
and
Tennessee.
On
Sunday,
more
police
were
gunned
down in
Baton
Rouge,
Louisiana.
Three
were
killed,
and four
were
badly
injured.
An
attack
on law
enforcement
is an
attack
on all
Americans.
I have a
message
to every
last
person
threatening
the
peace on
our
streets
and the
safety
of our
police:
when I
take the
oath of
office
next
year, I
will
restore
law and
order
our
country.
I will
work
with,
and
appoint,
the best
prosecutors
and law
enforcement
officials
in the
country
to get
the job
done. In
this
race for
the
White
House, I
am the
Law and
Order
candidate.
The
irresponsible
rhetoric
of our
President,
who has
used the
pulpit
of the
presidency
to
divide
us by
race and
color,
has made
America
a more
dangerous
environment
for
everyone.”
In 1968,
Nixon
attacked
the
Black
Panther
Party
and
organizations
like
them;
Trump
has
assailed
the
Black
Lives
Matter
movement.
Now, of
course,
the
political
and
social
climate
in 1968
and 2016
isn’t
completely
analogous.
In 1968,
blacks
held
only a
handful
of
congressional
seats
and a
mayoralty
of two;
America,
for
example,
has a
black
president
now.
But the
two
years do
have a
striking
similarity
in one
sense:
Our
country
seems at
war with
itself.
Paul
Manafort,
Trump
campaign
chairman,
has
stated
in
recent
days
that the
tone and
feel in
1968 are
“pretty
much on
line
with a
lot of
the
issues
that are
going on
today.”
White
America,
certainly
the
politically
conservative
wing, is
hell-bent
on
taking
back the
streets.
And by
extension,
that
also
means a
building
wall to
keep
illegal
brown
immigrants
off
American
soil,
and
declaring,
as Trump
has
euphemistically
coined,
to “Make
America
Great
Again.”
To be
sure
Trump,
like
Nixon
before
him, has
tapped
effectively
into a
mood
among
working
class
whites—mainly
men—who
see
good-paying
American
jobs
going
overseas,
who are
witnessing
the
browning
of
America,
and who
are fed
up with
federal
government.
General
Election
Day is
more
than 100
days
away and
a lot of
things
can
happen
between
now and
then.
But one
thing
appears
certain:
Trump, a
demagogue,
will
play the
“law-and-order”
card all
the way
to
November
8.
Ken
Coleman,
an
author
and
historian,
is a
former
communications
director
for the
Michigan
Democratic
Party.
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