Comments on: A little language analysis of the president’s tweets https://www.habitablezone.com/2019/07/28/a-little-language-analysis-of-the-presidents-tweets/ Sun, 05 Apr 2026 21:05:37 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://www.habitablezone.com/2019/07/28/a-little-language-analysis-of-the-presidents-tweets/#comment-43424 ER Sun, 28 Jul 2019 17:20:16 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=77627#comment-43424 you tend to justify it (among other things) by questioning their standards of personal hygiene. I know when I was growing up, my family often criticized "the Crackers" as people who didn't like to bathe too frequently. Being forced to deal with "Crackers" on a day-to-day basis when I wasn't actually at home, I quickly learned that this was simply not true, that "Crackers" were just as likely (or unlikely) to bathe as Cubans. But I also learned that the racial slurs used by them against Cubans were remarkably similar to the ones we used against them. Crackers were not only dirty, but violent, stupid, and proud they were that way. They didn't treat their families well and did not respect the law and that they were lazy, both in their personal habits and attitude to work. And both tribes, when challenged directly, would refuse to admit they were prejudiced against the other. They simply could not bring themselves to see what you were talking about. No, I'm not saying Trump is a racist. That may or may not be true. Actually, whether he is or not is irrelevant. What I'm saying is that he is perfectly aware that many of his followers ARE racist, even if they don't realize it, and that he is telling them exactly what they want to hear, and that's why they love him for it. you tend to justify it (among other things) by questioning their standards of personal hygiene. I know when I was growing up, my family often criticized “the Crackers” as people who didn’t like to bathe too frequently.

Being forced to deal with “Crackers” on a day-to-day basis when I wasn’t actually at home, I quickly learned that this was simply not true, that “Crackers” were just as likely (or unlikely) to bathe as Cubans. But I also learned that the racial slurs used by them against Cubans were remarkably similar to the ones we used against them. Crackers were not only dirty, but violent, stupid, and proud they were that way. They didn’t treat their families well and did not respect the law and that they were lazy, both in their personal habits and attitude to work. And both tribes, when challenged directly, would refuse to admit they were prejudiced against the other. They simply could not bring themselves to see what you were talking about.

No, I’m not saying Trump is a racist. That may or may not be true. Actually, whether he is or not is irrelevant. What I’m saying is that he is perfectly aware that many of his followers ARE racist, even if they don’t realize it, and that he is telling them exactly what they want to hear, and that’s why they love him for it.

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