In elections, the candidates raise racial issues in campaigns, rallies, forums, and debates. In most cases, they use racial appeals while addressing the audience. U.Ss 2016 election is not an exception as we saw different racial appeals the presidential candidate made. Donald Trump made the Muslim travel ban appeal, and Hillary Clinton made the racial justice appeal.
Donald Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, campaign press release on December 08, 2015, reported Trump appealing for a complete shutdown of the Muslims coming to the United States of America (Diamond par 2). The campaign press release added that the ban would last until the country would determine what was going on. Trumps appeal came in the wake of a mass shooting by suspected ISIS in San Bernardino, California.
The travel ban appeal targeting the Muslim community is direct and obviously racial. Donald Trump clearly said that until the country has determined as well as understood the problem and the danger it poses, USA cannot be victims of atrocious attacks by individuals believing in Jihad and disrespect human life (Diamond par 8). This message is obviously racial since Trump has characterized the Muslims as terrorists despite the fact that there have been zero terrorist attacks on the United States of America soil for a long time.
The Muslim foreigners intending to relocate to the United States and Muslim tourists to the USA are the racial audience for this appeal. As Corey Lewandowski, Trump campaign manager noted that the Muslim travel ban would apply to not only the Muslims looking forward to immigrating to the United States but also to those visiting USA as tourists (Diamond par 10). Trump in Fox News Interview on December 07, 2015 clearly said that the Muslims already residing in the U.S will not be affected therefore those intending to come are the ones the ban will affect.
The Muslim countries are the target for this appeal. The Muslim travel ban targets people in the Muslim countries. The ban would be effect till the state identifies the problem meaning till then the Muslims would not be allowed into the United States of America. Trump characterizes Muslim regions worldwide as being terror-prone therefore allowing people from those regions into the USA will make the country unsafe.
Trump believes that Muslims have animosity towards the Americans (Diamond par 14) and that they do not value human life. In the Fox News interview he said that majority of the Muslims living in the USA have tremendous animosity, therefore, Americans have to be vigilant. During the press release, he noted that people believing in Jihad do not have respect for human life.
The appeal could impact on policy formulation barring Muslims from entering the USA. The policy would put restrictions to prevent the Muslims from coming to the U.S. Additionally, the United States would withdraw their embassies from Muslim regions across the world. Also, the government could come with a way of monitoring the Muslims already living in the USA.
Hillary Clinton, a Democrat presidential candidate, in his first major speech on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, at Columbia University in New York at the 18th Annual David N. Dinkins Leadership Forum appealed for racial justice. In her speech, she talked about the broken criminal justice system in the United States of America and pleaded to the country to have a look at the police violence incidents against the black men. She talked about the incidents becoming more common (Clinton par 1 and 8).
Hillary Clintons racial appeal was direct and obviously racial. She mentions several black prominent victims of the USs broken criminal justice system especially violence against the blacks by the police officers (Clinton par 8). Hillary further highlights that that the U.Ss criminal justice system is out of balance evident as it treats the black and the whites differently.
The law enforcers are the intended racial audience. Hillary Clintons speech is trying to put into light the decay in the criminal justice system so that the law enforcers can address this matter. She highlights the violence the black people encounter with the police officers and how the blacks are the more likely people the police stop and search and sentenced to very long prison terms than their white counterparts. Therefore, she is trying to plea to for criminal justice reform to treat both the black and the whites equally.
African-Americans are the target racial group. Hillary Clinton in her speech she talks of the criminal injustices the African-American are facing in the U.Ss criminal justice system. She also highlights of the long mass incarcerations the blacks face as compared to their white counterparts (Clinton par 14). The appeal enlightens the African-American community of the criminal injustices they are facing in the U.S soil and support the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Racial equality activated this appeal. Hillary Clinton believes that African-Americans are equal to the whites, therefore, deserve equal treatment by the criminal justice system. There has been a long history of the violence against the blacks by the police and long mass incarceration. This is unfair treatment since the blacks and whites are all equal.
One of the potential effects of this appeal is the reformation of the U.Ss criminal justice system. Also, strategies would be put in place to prevent violence against the blacks by the police officers. Additionally, the blacks could undergo a due process in the criminal justice system just as their white counterparts. In conclusion, in the 2016 elections, both the Republican and Democrat candidates have made various racial appeals in their campaigns, rally, and forums. The concrete racial appeal Donald Trump made is the Muslim travel ban, and Hillary Clinton made the racial justice appeal. Racial issue in U.S politics have been there for decades and will continue to arise if not addressed.
Work Cited
Clinton Hillary. Remarks at Columbia University on criminal justice and mass incarceration, February 14, 2016, https://www.hillaryclinton.com/post/remarks-columbia-university-criminal-justice-and-mass-incarceration/. Accessed 10 May 2017
Diamond, Jeremy. Donald Trump: Ban all Muslim Travel to U.S. CNN, December 08, 2015, http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/. Accessed 10 May 2017
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