Cedars, September 2017

September 2017 11 OFF-CAMPUS nationalists strongly. “We’ve never had a president who’s even sent mixed signals about this sort of behavior for a long, long time,” Smith said. “At min- imum, we want a president who tries to al- leviate racial tension, and I think you’d have to say that Donald Trump doesn’t do that. I wouldn’t blame the increased violence all on Donald Trump, but the way that he’s handled these events has not been par for the course.” Inextricably tied to the Charlottesville issue is the debate on the Confederate mon- uments, as the “Unite the Right” rally orig- inally planned to protest taking down the statue of Robert E. Lee. Debate has raged across the country as to whether the monu- ments have historical value or merely prop- agate hatred. Trump spoke against their removal, saying, “This week, it is Robert E. Lee. ... I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?” Clauson postulated that the increase in racial discussion promoted by the media and by different sects of the alt-left and the alt-right may have something to do with the monuments gaining national attention. “The statues weren’t an issue just a few months ago,” Clauson said. “It really makes you wonder: What’s precipitating the sud- den interest? I think this new attitude has been forced by certain subgroups of each side of the population, who are better-orga- nized than the average voter.” Though we are still in the early days of Trump’s presidency, there is value to be had in discussing whether our president has had a positive or negative effect on racial ten- sion in America. Smith said racial tension has been a source of major media coverage since the early days of Trump’s campaign. Trump was lambasted for his inflammatory remarks about certain ethnic groups and for his hesitancy to reject Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke’s endorsement. According to PBS, crimes have spiked violently since the 2016 election. Within 10 days of Trump’s election, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) catalogued 900 bias-related crimes against minorities. Ac- cording to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents rose by 86 percent in the first quarter of 2017. Smith said he believes increasing racial violence is less a result of the Trump presi- dency but rather a trend nationwide. “If we’re fair, there was a fair bit of ra- cial-based violence during the tail end of the Obama administration: Ferguson happened and Baltimore happened,” he said. “As aw- ful as it is, this is a trend within American history. However, I don’t say that to mini- mize or negate Trump’s influence — there’s certainly been an increase in coverage and an increase in sensitivity.” Clauson said it is difficult to tell wheth- er there has been a significant effect on ra- cial tension in America since the election of Trump. “We’ve definitely seen an increased me- dia focus over the past few weeks because of what happened in Charlottesville,” Clauson said. “The election did a lot to dredge [racial tension] up, and Trump became a bit of a lightning rod for that. I don’t see as much clash among the population as a whole as I do among certain fringe groups.” Whether incidents of racial violence will continue to increase in the next years of the presidency remains to be seen. What is clear is that Trump’s attitude toward racial tension is without historical precedent, and that his inflammatory campaign may have resulted in an increase in racial tension. Smith and Clauson concur that Chris- tians should carefully consider how to pro- ceed in this tense atmosphere, encouraging Christians to be uniters, not dividers. “When we interact with people politi- cally, we need to remember that we are in- teracting with a child of God,” Smith said. “Our interaction has to start at that level — the personal, spiritual level, not the political or ideological level. You’re dealing with a person who is potentially in need of God’s grace. In a sense then, Christians can be one of those groups that can bring sides together — that can build with people, not just imme- diately tear them down.” Alexandria Hentschel is a sophomore In- ternational Studies and Spanish double major and the Off-Campus news editor for Cedars. She enjoys old books, strong coffee, and honest debate.