I think it’s helpful to see how Trump rolled out his racist game plan, starting with his birther wager. Sure, Trump said and did racist things before that, but the birther bit was a test to see how people would respond.

It was directed at the kind of bigot who thinks it’s clever to say “Obummer” on Facebook. Most people paid it little attention, and nobody in the headline media called him on it.

Then he started widening his audience, taking on Muslims by associating them with terrorists (the fabricated incident of Muslims in New Jersey cheering for the 9–11 attacks; not much fact checking other than “We can’t find any footage to support his claim,” and no real criticism). Next target: Mexican rapists and invaders, and currently women of color and Baltimore dwellers with vermin. Nowadays the headline media call out these attacks, but with little effect. Trump continues to win over a growing swath of middle America.

So the question isn’t “Does supporting a racist mean you’re a racist?” but “Were people like Michael’s Youngstown relatives always racists, or did Trump convert them with his blend of racist rhetoric and phony populism?”

I don’t know Michael’s relatives but this is my guess.

Rarely does a single event or two (even a traumatic event) make someone into a racist. People tend to learn racism over time (from parents, peers, authority figures).

The Youngstown folks were probably racists before they had ever heard of Donald Trump, but they kept it hidden (maybe even from themselves) because expressing racist views wasn’t socially desirable.

Trump made being a racist not just acceptable but socially desirable.

The genie is out of the bottle. We must make the further expressing of racist views unacceptable. But I doubt we’ll do this by trying to shame a racist or by fact checking Trump. Even if you disagree with the original article, having discussions like this can be a fruitful first step.