Last night’s fifth Republican presidential debate might have been eventful, but the real action was on Twitter as #WhitesAgainstTrump trended. The hashtag was spurred by a Salon article where W. Kamau Bell said that White people are the only ones who can shut down Donald Trump’s “White supremacy” campaign:
Donald Trump isn’t a Republican issue or a rich people issue or a human issue. Donald Trump is a White people issue. Whenever Ben Carson says batshit crazy nonsense, Black people rise up, and let him know that he needs to STFU. Whenever Raven-Symone pops off, we put her cap back on. We even handled Rachel Dolezal for you. Yes, we also make jokes and come up with clever memes and hashtags, but at the core of all that is that we are letting these people know that they are embarrassing us as Black people. It is time, White people, for you to finally step up and recognize that you also (even more so) have a responsibility to your race. It is up to you to silence Donald Trump. Don’t just insult him and make fun of him. You have to connect it to your race. Recognize that he is embarrassing you as a White person. Simple snark won’t win here. You have to feel it. You have to use words like “as a White person” and “he is an embarrassment to my race.” Stop acting like Trump isn’t the pinnacle and the result of America’s history and tradition of White supremacy. And again, P.S.: Simply put, White people, come get your boy.
Boy did they ever. Of course, the rest of Twitter slid in there, too, and no one was safe. Here, the best tweets of the bunch:
Donald Trump represents a pinnacle of racism and is an embarrassment to White People Trump: STFU #WhitesAgainstTrump
— Robert J. Berger (@rberger) December 15, 2015
#WhitesAgainstTrump Because "Making America great again" doesn’t entail fear-mongering and blatant xenophobia
— James Ju (@SirJustinBarone) December 16, 2015
As a white person, I benefit from racist hate speech. I value equality more than comfort, so I’m all for #WhitesAgainstTrump
— Nog Nexus (@NoodleNexus) December 16, 2015
Trump began his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and drug dealers. Just a reminder. #WhitesAgainstTrump
— Andy Michaels (@StopThatAndy) December 16, 2015
Seriously. #WhitesAgainstTrump pic.twitter.com/KXTu3RkFJB
— Ali McC (@AliMoonGoddess) December 16, 2015
Dear GOP, That stuff you refer to as PC is what the rest of us call showing respect, kindness and compassion. #WhitesAgainstTrump
— Ed Fowler (@edfowler) December 16, 2015
Dear #WhitesAgainstTrump, you’re a credit to your race.
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) December 16, 2015
Will @CNN ask about the overwhelming majority of terrorist attacks by right wing white ppl in US? #WhitesAgainstTrump #GOPDebate
— Michael J Kranz (@michaeljkranz) December 16, 2015
The new season of The Biggest Loser looks awful #GOPDebate #WhitesAgainstTrump pic.twitter.com/qpPvPjq6eF
— Shane Lake (@shanelake33) December 16, 2015
#WhitesAgainstTrump I’m taking my kids here for dinner tonight, because where we spend our money matters. pic.twitter.com/0qp275KVH2
— Leslie Ramyk (@LRamyk) December 16, 2015
I think #WhitesAgainstTrump provides a great forum for us white folk to stop treating his frightening racism as a joke.
— Crafting Change (@crafting_change) December 16, 2015
When you see #WhitesAgainstTrump trending pic.twitter.com/D80G8IblOt
— MaalikSimmons (@MaalikSimmons) December 16, 2015