Jorge Ramos Talks Surge of White Supremacist Groups In 'Hate Rising' Documentary
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Friday, 21 October 2016 19:39
- Published: Saturday, 22 October 2016 14:24
- Written by Lupe R Haas
On Sunday October 23 at 10PM, Univision and FUSION will simultaneously air HATE RISING, a Spanish and English-language documentary featuring Jorge Ramos as he explores the rise of hate groups in America since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the U.S. Presidency. CineMovie talked to the award-winning journalist and author about his encounters with Neo-Nazis, members of the KKK, and the groups who are the targets of hate.
When Jorge Ramos was thrown out of a Donald Trump press conference for asking a question out of turn, he heard the words, “Get out of my country” from a Trump supporter.
“I found in that press conference that there was a lot of hate on Trump’s part and many of his supporters followed suit,” said the naturalized American citizen. "They were repeating exactly what he was selling.”
After the press conference, the Mexican-born journalist traveled around the United States for eight months and found the hate groups had grown in large numbers.
“There’s 892 racist groups in the country. The Ku Klux Klan clan has also increased to more than 190 chapters. So that is very worrisome. The hate is growing in this country. Discrimination is growing in this country. The goal behind the documentary was to denounce this surge.”
To get the hate group's side of the story, Ramos and a film crew met with leaders and representatives from white supremacists. They went in without any security, and Ramos tells us a few times guns were present at these gatherings. Did he fear for his safety?
"Of course. I was scared when I arrived to meet with a “imperial wizard” from the Ku Klux Klan in Texas. We didn’t know whether he was armed or not. He probably was. And he refused to shake my hand. He didn’t want to touch me because I was Latino.”
Ramos also describes another situation where he feared for his life. In Ohio, he met with 30 members of another hate group, some of them armed. Ramos didn’t want to talk too long because he didn’t want them to detect his accent in case they wanted to cause him harm because he’s an immigrant..
One of the most heartbreaking moments in HATRED RISING is watching children worry whether their parents or grandparents would be sent back to Mexico. One young boy breaks down when he talks about the idea of his grandmother being deported if Trump wins. .
“It’s terrible, isn’t it? That’s what you call the “Trump Effect.” Trump has done two things. He’s normalized something that was unthinkable. He made it okay to insult Mexican, people and women...things that were unspeakable are now said out in the open. The other effect is the fear and anxiety now instilled in children.”
Children are heavily influenced by what they are seeing on television and hearing in the household, says Ramos. Children don’t distinguish between legal or illegal. All they are hearing is that Mexicans are rapists and they will be deported. That’s what the “Trump Effect” has done to the country and to the American children.
When it comes to the Presidential election, Ramos feels like either candidate could win this race at this point. Hillary Clinton does not have a concrete win yet.
“We have to think that something can happen like what happened in Great Britain with Brexit or what happened in Colombia with the Peace Agreement. It’s possible that there are many followers of Trump who don’t dare say openly that they are supporters of Trump. Because they are ashamed. They’re scared. But when it comes time to vote, they’ll put in their vote. So anything can happen and I wouldn’t dare call the race for the next United States President.”
Ramos says HATRED RISING isn’t political. Regardless who will be the next President of the United States, the damage has been done.
“The country is permanently divided. It will take many years to fix the damage Donald Trump has brought on.”
HATE RISING airs Sunday, October 23 at 10pm in a unprecedented dual telecast on Unvision in Spanish and FUSION in English.