Editorial: Donald Trump said he was going to pardon
former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. But knowing in advance didn't soften the blow
to Latinos - and equal justice.
While America was talking about tearing
down monuments that offend historically oppressed people, Donald Trump
effectively erected yet another one.
His pardon of Joe Arpaio
elevated the disgraced former Maricopa County sheriff to monument
status among the immigration hardliners and nationalists in Trump’s
base.
This erases any doubt about whether Trump meant to empower them after the violence in Charlottesville.
Arpaio is their darling. Arpaio is now back on his pedestal thanks to their resident.
Expecting the pardon doesn't make it better
This insult wasn’t a surprise. Trump told us it was coming during his rally-the-base speech in Phoenix Tuesday.
But that doesn’t lessen the sting or diminish the significance of Trump’s decision to put Arpaio back on the national stage.
Maricopa County had a bellyful of this showboat sheriff and voted him out of office last year.
A
federal court found Arpaio in criminal contempt for ignoring a judge's
order in a long-running case over racial profiling of Latino motorists.
It
was a dose of hard-won justice for a too-flamboyant sheriff who showed
little respect for the Constitution as he made national news as an
immigration hardliner – and let real crimes go uninvestigated.
Donald Trump’s pardon elevates Arpaio once again to the pantheon of those who see institutional racism as something that made America great.
It's a slap for Latinos - and everyone else
Many will characterize it as a slap to the Latino community – and it is.
The
vast majority of Latinos in Arizona are not undocumented, yet they all
fell under heightened scrutiny as Arpaio honed his image.
The
pardon was a slap to those who worked through the judicial system to
make Arpaio accountable, too. It robbed the people hurt by his policies
of justice – even before a judge could mete out a sentence.
The pardon was a sign of pure contempt for every American who believes in justice, human dignity and the rule of law.
MONTINI: Trump violates his oath to pardon Arpaio
This isn't about one group of people. It’s about all Americans.
Arpaio
was a lawman who scorned his duty to treat all people equally. He made
it law enforcement policy to profile people based on their heritage.
It played well in Arizona, then it turned hollow.
Arpaio
was riding high in 2010 when then-Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill
1070, a draconian law written to intimidate people. Then Arizona came to
its senses. It recognized the dangers of scapegoating – or at least the
economic risks of alienating a growing demographic group.
Institutional racism is clearly Trump's goal
Then
came Trump. He resurrected Arpaio’s rhetoric and made a hit on the
national stage. He used Arpaio as a warm-up act during campaign rallies
and modeled his own speeches on Arpaio’s rambling populist routine.
Many hoped the country would tire of this toxic folly – just as Arizona had.
After
Trump was elected, many hoped he would abandon his habit of appealing
to the worst instincts of disaffected white Americans who have been left
behind by economic changes that had little to do with undocumented
immigration.
Many hoped Trump would decide to become the resident of all the people.
But Trump spent last week demonstrating that he wants to be resident of the few.
By pardoning Arpaio, Trump made it clear that institutional racism is not just OK with him. It is a goal.
That should trouble every American who believes that our duty as a nation is to continue working on behalf of equal justice.
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