The final unraveling of post-racial ideology came with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, a man who was at the front of challenging Obama’s citizenship, and whose campaign was built off of a racist rhetoric towards non white individuals, evidenced through his feelings towards immigrants and Muslims. The themes of the protests that followed Trump’s election focused on calling out his rhetoric of blatant racism and the normalization of white nationalism, such as posters stating “Fight Racism” and chants about Trump’s affiliation with the KKK. Because of his open racist rhetoric, America saw a safety blanket fall around alt-right individuals who support white supremacy, the KKK, and neo-Nazism. Many white liberals were confused how the American population could let this happen, which points further to the inability to recognize the systemic and institutional forms of racism that make up American society.

    All this information amounts to the failure of post-racialism in America. As a society who has moved from slavery, to segregation, to mass incarceration, it is obvious that we are not post-race, especially when people of color have been continually disenfranchised, regardless of what president is in power.