You’ve seen the video, no doubt.  A Manhattan lawyer on a rant about service workers at a fast food restaurant who are only speaking Spanish (Dios mio!).

But wait, there’s more.  Local TV news in New York has tracked down the racist ranter, Aaron Schlossberg, crossing a street.

https://twitter.com/EVRYBODYvsTRUMP/status/997259302191558659

In disguise,  crossing another street, before he bolts.

There have been calls for Schlossberg to be disbarred.  He’s been kicked out of his office. He’s been “Yelp-bombed” into oblivion.

But there is more to this story than one low-life lawyer. The reaction to this jerk is about something more.  Many Americans, and many, many New Yorkers have had it with the dog whistle racism.  There is a palpable,  pent-up frustration with what’s going on in Washington and nowhere to vent it.  We have a president who has given a wink and a nod to the Aaron Schlossbergs of America. What are we to expect when a president talks about those from “shithole countries,” or Mexican rapists or blaming “many sides” for the Nazi violence in Charlottesville?  We have a president who has signaled to racists everywhere it’s ok to crawl out from under their rocks and yell at people who don’t look like them. But Mr. Schlossberg, a Trump supporter and contributor, could not have picked a more liberal place to lose his mind.  He also could not have chosen a more diverse one.  Only half of New Yorkers speak English at home.  There are dozens of languages overheard on Manhattan streets every day.  And that’s a good thing.  We’ve become a better society in the years since the Civil Rights Movement.  We are all more trusting and tolerable and loving.  Until a politician suddenly signals that hate is ok.  And we give Aaron Schlossberg more attention than he deserves.  Because it’s not just about him.