As a professor who researches and teaches courses on the health effects of race, racism and inequality, I can assure you that the president’s defenders are wrong. Trump is a racist. What he says and does meets the scholarly definition of the term.

Broadly speaking, a racist combines negative prejudicial biases with sufficient power to leverage action against targeted groups. Trump’s words and behaviors demonstrate considerable prejudicial bias, and, as president of the United States — arguably the most powerful office in the contemporary world — he has indeed leveraged action against various groups.

Racism is predicated on belief in the scientifically discredited concept of biological race. Skin color simply has no correlation with significant inherent distinctions among human beings. However, “race” in the past and now has led to notions of a natural hierarchy among various populations. In the United States, it was used to justify stealing labor from black Africans through slavery and stealing land from red Native Americans through forced relocation and genocide....

Trump and his supporters seem to believe that simple protestations to the contrary are sufficient to refute and erase his actions. Despite these claims, some in the Republican Party recognize the truth. Rep. Will Hurd of Texas and Sens. Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake, John McCain and Mitch McConnell have all specifically spoken out against Trump’s worst behavior.

>> Click here to read more