Not a few commentators rushed to celebrate Barack Obama's 2008 election as the advent of a "post-racial America," but that year's political campaign and the eight years that followed proved anything but that.

In March 2008, false rumors began to spread that Obama had been born in Kenya and was, therefore, ineligible to run for president. Once elected, white supremacists and broad segments of conservatism viewed him, like white Southerners saw Abraham Lincoln in 1860 (the only other president hailing from Illinois), as an illegitimate president. In reaction to Lincoln's victory, South Carolina and 10 other slave states seceded and formed the Confederacy.

Nearly a century and a half later, Republican congressional leaders did not advocate or pursue secession but did the next best/worse thing: They seceded by withholding all forms of cooperation and compromise, declaring their priority to make Obama a one-term president.

In 2011, when Donald Trump began to explore a presidential run, he embraced the so-called birther movement, becoming one of its most vociferous mouthpieces, a move that helped him build the base that would later propel him to the White House. One year after his election, 57% of those who had voted for him still believed that America's first Black president was either "definitely" or "probably" born in Kenya.

As Dr. Phil is fond of saying, "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior." Within a few hours of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's announcement of his selection of Sen. Kamala Harris for vice president, President Donald Trump was at it again, spreading a rumor that "she doesn't meet the requirements."

One and a half minutes into his 2016 presidential campaign announcement speech, Donald Trump threw a 72-ounce raw steak at his supporters gathered in Trump Tower and the national audience watching on TV. "The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else's problems," said the red-tied tycoon. Some in the crowd hollered in affirmation. "When Mexico sends its people," Trump lashed, "they're not sending their best. ... They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."

That was his declaration of war against immigrant Latinos. Later came the "big, beautiful" border wall that Mexico would pay for; then his verbal attacks on U.S. District Attorney Gonzalo Curiel, whom he accused of bias because of Curiel's Mexican heritage; then a series of attacks against Dreamers' protections; and, to top it all, the inhumane separation of tens of thousands of immigrant children from their parents, many of whom were incarcerated.

Trump has maligned other ethnic, racial and religious minorities. In his 2016 candidacy announcement speech, he also invoked the threat of "Islamic terrorism," code for the world's 1.9 billion Muslims, including over 3.45 million living in the United States. Once in office, Trump issued an executive order banning the entry of Iranians and nationals of another six predominantly Muslim countries.

Less than a year later, the president uttered that infamous statement, calling Haiti and unspecified African countries a "s—-hole." While he claims to love blacks and that blacks love him back, his speeches, tweets and other public remarks are filled with dog-whistle calls aimed at stirring the worst anti-black, racist instincts of many in his political base.

Demographic Changes

In the 21st century, the proportion of Americans not born in the United States has grown to 13.7%. As Brookings Institution fellow Philip Wallach reminded us, that parallels the Antebellum proportion, 13.2% in 1860. Then and now, such significant proportions of immigrants spurred anti-immigration sentiments and movements: the anti-Catholic Know Nothing organizations of the 1850s and contemporary white supremacism and numerous unabashedly racist groups.

In the three decades since 1990, the population of the United States increased from 249.6 million to 330 million. The sustained growth of the Hispanic population from 22 million to 60 million was responsible for much of that general population growth. Official figures from the 2003 census showed that by that year, the Hispanic population of 38.8 million had surpassed the African American population of 38.3 million; Asians lagged at 13.1 million.

The Hispanic population grew by another 10 million between 2010 and 2019 and is now over 18% of the population.

The latest U.S. census estimates point to an unprecedented phenomenon: the white segment of the population dropped in absolute numbers from 197,845,666 in 2016 to 197,309,822 in 2019.

While it is not clear that the white population will continue to drop, it will decrease in proportional terms. Currently, whites constitute less than half of the population in Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., Texas and Nevada. The same is true in 47 of the largest 100 metropolitan areas, including cities in the battleground states Texas, Florida and Georgia. This explains why Trump expresses such disdain for the nation's cities and casts red states as "patriotic America."

Readers can reach Luis Martinez-Fernandez at LMF_Column@yahoo.com. To find out more about Luis Martinez-Fernandez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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