“Let there be peace on earth," six-year-old Heavenly Joy, an African American prodigy sang at the beginning of the last evening of the Republican National Convention. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me…Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.”
But the speeches and slogans that would fill the evening later, were not exactly on cue. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, controversial for his drive targeting undocumented residents, was added in the last minute to the list of speakers of the final evening. “My most important mission has only begun. We are the only country in the nation whose immigration laws are tailored to protect infiltrators. We are more concerned about the rights of illegal aliens and criminals. Terrorists have infiltrated our communities,” he said as the arena echoed with the deafening war cry: “Build that wall.”
African American televangelist Mark Burns whipped up a nationalist frenzy, fitting black aspirations within Mr. Trump’s Make America Great campaign. “There are no black, yellow or red Americans. There are only Americans. All lives matter. The only colours that matter are red, white and blue,” he said, referring to the colours on the national flag.
Mr. Trump’s speech was interrupted by Medea Benjamin, founder of the women’s advocacy group Code Pink. She was escorted out of the venue by the police. A press release on Code Pink's website quoted Ms. Benjamin as saying: "Scapegoating immigrants and refugees—some of the most marginalized and powerless members of our society—for the problems we face as a nation is deeply racist. I rose to disrupt Trump's ‘victory speech' tonight to make sure that no one, whether in the arena or watching in their living room, could overlook the horrifying racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny that is at the root of Donald Trump's ideology. We want to build bridges not walls, and we want peace and love, not hate and war."
