Trump and the US Constitution

Speaking Spanish, “Anchor Babies” and the US Constitution

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Jimmy Franco Sr.

Donald Trump has recently declared that Spanish should not be allowed to be spoken within the US and the majority of the Republican candidates have fallen in line with him and agreed. The sole exception was Jeb Bush who Trump had berated and harshly criticized after he gave a Florida campaign speech in Spanish. Donald scolded Bush and stated that he should not be “speaking Mexican as English is the language of the US”. Marco Rubio later gave a weak response that it is all right to use Spanish. Before opening one’s mouth and blurting out campaign policies and

The majority of GOP candidates supports dismantling the 14th Amendment.

inaccuracies, Trump needs to utilize the US Constitution as a point of reference to avoid sounding like a fool. Apparently, he did not heed the traditional advice of “no investigation, no right to speak”. Donald simply spouted more ignorant slanders by maligning the use of Spanish, opposing the right of US Latinos to speak it and even advocating a ban on its use within the US. The Spanish language is rooted in 500 years of history, culture, commerce and even geographical use within this country. Trump and the majority of other Republican candidates are also supporting another demand to restrict legal rights by either eliminating or fundamentally changing the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution which presently sanctions birthright citizenship to US-born children of immigrant parents. Extreme right-wing elements derisively call these children “anchor babies” and are demanding that their citizenship rights be eliminated and they be deported. Adding to this cesspool of bigotry is GOP front runner Ben Carson who just stated that a Muslim should not be president due to their religion, and yet, Carson is a die-hard Seventh Day Adventist. Meanwhile, Trump recently stated that perhaps Obama could be a secret Muslim and not an American. There are two opposing perspectives and positions regarding these issues of language rights and birthright citizenship. One perspective and its positions are in legal accordance and agreement with the US Constitution, while the positions which Trump’s white nationalists on the extreme political right are promoting are based upon unconstitutional grounds. 

The historical struggle for the equality of languages continues

Why the GOP is Hesitant to Denounce Trump's Bigotry

Why the GOP is Hesitant to Denounce Trump’s Bigotry

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Jimmy Franco Sr.

Trump has defended his racist attacks against Mexicans while his appeal within the GOP is increasing.

The recent campaign statements made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that “Mexican immigrants are primarily “criminals, drug smugglers and rapists” have generated a much needed political debate. This present controversy and national dialogue related to Trump’s bigoted campaign comments and particularly his racial slurs aimed at Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have done the country a service by bringing his white chauvinist views and those of others in his party out into the open rather than hypocritically keeping them hidden below the surface. The broad public can now clearly see and hear the ugly ethnic hatred and policies of divisiveness that are firmlyingrained within the Republican Party and privately held by many of its members as well as the support shown for them by certain sectors of the conservative media. Trump has promoted and fiercely defended this poisonous and traditional US ideological trend of xenophobia, race baiting and immigrant bashing which has deep historical roots within our society. His comments have quickly raised his poll numbers among large numbers of Republicans and broadened his conservative appeal to rapidly become the second ranked GOP contender behind front runner Jeb Bush.