Opinion: The Weaponization of Racism

Published 2:30 am Wednesday, October 22, 2025

“Silence in the face of racism is not neutrality; it is consent.”

Racism has always been America’s deepest wound. Under Donald Trump, it has become a deliberate instrument of power. From his first campaign to his return to the White House, Trump has made racial division the foundation of his politics and the principal weapon in his assault on democracy.

With the quiet assent of Alaska’s Murkowski, Sullivan, and Begich, and the backing of right-wing institutions such as the Heritage Foundation, Trump’s movement is reshaping the United States into a white Christian nationalist state. The message is unmistakable: America is to be ruled by white Christians, and others will be tolerated, controlled, or excluded.

Trump built his political identity on the racist “birther” lie about President Obama and inflamed fear of immigrants. In office, he imposed the Muslim ban, tore children from parents at the border, and sought to erase birthright citizenship. He called African and Caribbean nations “shithole countries,” defended white supremacists in Charlottesville, and unleashed federal forces on racial-justice protesters.

Now, in his second term, those impulses have hardened into policy: mass deportations, revived asylum bans, and the dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Diversity itself is cast as a threat to “American civilization.” This is no accident. It is a strategy to define who belongs and who must submit in Trump’s America.

The Supreme Court, reshaped by Trump and his Republican allies, has provided legal cover. Its decision in Trump v. Hawaii upheld the travel ban, cloaking religious discrimination in constitutional language. Since then, the Court’s conservative majority has gutted affirmative action, weakened voting rights, and narrowed protections for minorities under the guise of “color-blindness.” These rulings entrench a hierarchy that privileges white Christians while pretending to defend equality.

Alaska’s delegation has been complicit. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, along with Representative Nick Begich, have refused to confront Trump’s racism. Their silence is not neutrality; it is consent. Murkowski’s gestures of independence are political theater. She voted to confirm most of Trump’s judicial nominees, including those now dismantling civil-rights precedents. Sullivan has fully aligned himself with Trump’s militarized and theocratic vision. Begich echoes the coded appeals to “Christian values” and “American identity” that anchor Trump’s exclusionary nationalism.

Behind the scenes, an organized ideological machine drives this agenda. Stephen Miller, architect of the Muslim ban and advocate of mass deportations, remains a key strategist. He now works with allies tied to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a blueprint to consolidate executive power, purge the civil service, and impose Christian nationalist control across federal agencies. That plan envisions government ruled by loyalty to Trump and obedience to “traditional values,” not to constitutional democracy.

These efforts depend on silence from those who know better. Murkowski, Sullivan, and Begich have watched the erosion of democratic norms and the weaponization of race and stayed passive. Their refusal to confront Trump’s authoritarianism shows that political survival outweighs moral duty. Silence in the face of racism is itself an act of racism.

The results are visible nationwide. Hate crimes have surged. White nationalist groups have grown bolder, wrapping their ideology in flags and crosses. State legislatures, following Trump’s lead, are banning books, suppressing minority votes, and erasing racial history from classrooms. Equality before the law is giving way to a hierarchy of citizenship defined by race and religion.

Trump’s recent proposal to overhaul the refugee system to favor white Europeans and South Africans reveals how openly this ideology now operates.

For Alaska, the betrayal is personal. Our state, rich in Indigenous heritage and cultural diversity, should stand as a barrier to racial tyranny. Instead, Murkowski, Sullivan, and Begich attend Trump rallies, echo his grievances, and ignore the danger. Their moral surrender stains Alaska’s legacy of independence and fairness.

The question now is whether it is too late to reverse the damage. Democracies rarely fall in a single blow; they erode through cowardice, one silence at a time. Each unchallenged lie, each racist dog whistle, and each judicial rollback moves us closer to permanent minority rule by a white Christian elite.

Trump’s weaponization of racism is not merely a moral disgrace. It is a calculated strategy to destroy democratic institutions and replace them with personal rule. Alaska’s senators and representative have a duty to resist that strategy, not enable it through inaction. Their continued silence will define their legacy.

The test of leadership is not loyalty to a man but fidelity to equality and justice, the principles that define our Constitution. If Murkowski, Sullivan, and Begich will not defend them, then citizens must, before the window to save our democracy closes forever.