The New Yorker: Clint Smith '10 on Trump, Duke and Disavowal
March 2, 2016
In response to Donald Trump's delay in disavowing David Duke's endorsement, Clint Smith '10 reflects on a childhood experience from Louisiana in the era of David Duke. In an article for The New Yorker, Smith pointedly recounts a soccer game where an individual in the crowd yelled a racial slur in reference to him. He remembers the crowd who did not disavow the remarks.
"After the game, no one from Dutchtown came and said anything to us. No one apologized to my parents. No one apologized to me. I'm not sure that I expected them to. Perhaps they felt it wasn't their responsibility to say anything about something that they didn't say themselves. Perhaps they thought that, since it did not come directly from their mouths, they did not need to disavow the remarks."
