Trumping Racism: Protesting Sikh Escorted Out of Trump’s Presidential Rally

President Obama is in his last few months at the oval office. This means that the race for the next American president has long since begun and that world is currently being subjected to a number of highly entertaining presidential candidates. 

There’s Ben Carson, the world class brain surgeon with a questionably terrific past (hey, no judgment here), Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, and secretary of state with an equally questionable past as the secretary of state. Another contender in the race is Jeb Bush, who, well, might as well not have contested at all. And finally, there’s Donald Trump – the world famous business monarch, reality Television star, and self-confessed racist (fine, not exactly, but he might as well be with all the blatant racism. Just saying!).
So, Donald Trump. Where do we start with him? He’s easily one of the most entertaining of the presidential candidates right from his Twitter feud with ‘Modern Family’ writer Danny Zuker which ended with Zuker tweeting:

Getting into an argument with an Emmy award-winning writer probably isn’t the smartest thing to do. Then he went on to verbally attack Republican rival Carly Fiorina over her face saying “Who would vote for a face like that?” (Seriously Donald, she ran HP to the ground financially, and you attack her face of all things? Really?).

The latest, though – he kicked a Sikh man out of his rally with a peaceful ‘Stop Hate’ banner during his campaign in Muscatine High School, Iowa. This was presumably because Trump thinks it doesn’t matter if you come in peace and love. If you wear a turban or look even remotely un-American, you don’t belong in Trump’s version of America  (who, a friend and Trump supporter swears will ‘make America great again’. Like. K bruh, k.)

The protest started when Trump began talking about the twin-tower terrorist attack in New York (better known as 9/11) saying:
“We have radical Islamic terror going on all over the place, all over the world, and we have a president who won’t say it, when planes fly into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, and wherever the third place was going. When people are shooting their friends in California, when they’re shooting their friends…”

It was at this point that the Sikh raised his banner, waved his hand, and said, “Bye. Bye. Goodbye.” Trump went on to say,
“He wasn’t wearing one of those hats was he? And he never will, and that’s OK because we got to do something folks because it’s not working,” as the sole Sikh was escorted out of the rally while his supporters chanted, “USA, USA, USA”.

Trump is known for his signature anti- Islamic speeches, and while this certainly will be applauded by some Indians, the fact of the matter remains that he doesn’t seem to be stopping at one race or religion. He is the current GoP frontrunner, and recent polls showed that he had taken a lead over his nearest Republican rival Ted Cruz. The next stop on his campaign is Iowa Caucus, scheduled for February 1 and is considered crucial because it’ll set a trend for the presidential primaries over the next few months.
It worries me, as an Indian and as a non- American that Trump could possibly become the next American president. The very fact that he so freely uses the term “Radical Islamic Terrorism” implies that he blames almost a billion people for the actions of a few, and India is home to many of the people Trump blames.

For now, Trump just seems to be good for vastly entertaining cat memes: