As the 2024 election season kicks into gear, Donald Trump has escalated the use of violent racist rhetoric, calling Black prosecutors “animals,” his political opponents “vermin,” and warning that “a bloodbath” would ensue should he lose in November.
Trump and his allies dismiss references to violence as harmless rhetorical flourishes, “just humorous.” But law enforcement warns that violent rhetoric may translate into violence against candidates.
To be sure, the problem affects most politicians. However, it seems especially pronounced for officeholders of color. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) have all reported serious threats. And members of Congress who are people of color outspend their white counterparts on security.
According to a Civic Pulse/Bridging Divides Initiatives survey of 2,033 local officials, more local officeholders of color than whites reported insults, harassment, or threats in the prior three-month period.
We know about the nature of these incidents from 110 in-depth interviews with local officeholders or staff that my colleagues and I conducted between 2022 and 2023. To preserve confidentiality, we do not report names, roles or state affiliations.
Many of these events are very serious. As one Black official described, “I have had incidences where … bricks [were] thrown through my home window … protesters outside of my home. I’ve had [fake] anthrax mailed to me. I was at an event … where shots rang out and hit the side of a bus that I was on the other side of.”
‘I’m coming to kill you’
Another Black officeholder described persistent threats: “And it was literally ‘I’m coming to kill you.’ ‘I have a bullet with your name on it.’ ‘I [will] … shoot up everyone and kill you.’ I mean, it’s like that level of graphic.”
The survey also shows that minority officeholders are more likely to report abusive racial comments. For instance, several Black officeholders were called the N-word. “I was called … [the n-word] or monkey,” explained one. “My office got flooded with very violent attacks … They used some very horrible language, particularly the n-word,” noted another.
Others described neo-Nazi fliers left at their door, or people hacking into online town halls and posting “paragraphs of the n-word in the chat … they said that they were gonna lynch me, and then it was like they would type ‘lynch, lynch, lynch’ over and over.”
One Latino candidate worried about racist violence while campaigning: “One of the areas in my county used to be a sundown town, so I think that those are … areas where I wouldn’t necessarily walk on my own. I wouldn’t even let my volunteers, especially my young male volunteers of color.”
To be sure, white officials experience disturbing levels of threats. Furthermore, white progressives mentioned threats tied to their positions on cultural issues, but not one respondent mentioned receiving attacks because they were white.
Exposure to threats can have severe implications for our political system. Our data show that those who are exposed to racial hostility are less likely to interact directly with constituents and take on controversial issues. For example, one Latino official noted that "[if] I’m not hearing from people in my district, then I’ll probably avoid the controversy and not co-sponsor [a bill].”
Equally worrisome is that officials who are exposed to race-based threats are less likely to run again or seek higher office. As one Asian local official put it, “I think doing the math, I’m like, ‘What’s worth it?’ That math is not working for a lot of people.”
Their white colleagues recognize this concern as well. For example, one white officeholder noted, “I don’t think that it’s helpful in terms of encouraging, incentivizing folks ... to throw their [hats] in the ring. The … vitriol can get very personal.”
If we don’t think that it is appropriate to hurl abuse in stores, restaurants or banks, why do we treat this as “the price of being a politician,” as many officials told us?
Studies show that not only do officeholders of color promote issues that white officeholders are less likely to take on, but the presence of people of color in politics reduces apathy among the communities that they represent.
As the 2024 election season intensifies, let’s condemn violent rhetoric and resolve to keep it out of our politics, to protect the health of our democracy.
Alexandra Filindra is an associate professor of political science and psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago, a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and the author of “Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and America’s Gun Culture.”
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