Donald Trump has claimed that he's least of all a racist. But his words and actions betray him.

Either racist tendencies are in-bred within Trump (whether he knows it or not), or he's using racism to stoke the flames of racism among his supporters to appeal to those in the Republican base, or both.

At 27 years of age, Trump was president of the Trump Management Corporation, which owned about 14,000 apartments in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The Department of Justice found that Trump was engaging in the discrimination of blacks by refusing to rent apartments to them. The DOJ also charged Trump with using unfair terms and conditions based on race. This violated the 1968 Fair Housing Act. ("1973/Meet Donald Trump," by David W. Dunlap. The New York Times, 7/30/2015)

Trump denied the charges. What a shock.

In a book published in 1991 entitled "Trumped!," by John R. O'Donnell, former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, he quoted Trump complaining about having blacks working under him:

"And it isn't funny. I've got black accountants at Trump Castle and Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. I think the guy is lazy [referring to a black executive]. And it's probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It's not anything they can control."

Trump's recent "outreach" to African-Americans backfired when he described black communities as worse than "war zones." You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, 58% of your youth are unemployed. He also said that black communities were in "absolutely the worst shape they've ever been in before." Trump neglected to mention the period of slavery. ("Trump's Outreach Repackages Racism as Earnest Concern," by Adam Serwer. The Atlantic, 9/22/2016)

Out of touch with reality when it comes to people of color, Trump personifies a lighting rod for racism. In his words and actions, racists are drawn to his message. Take, for example, the Imperial Wizard of the Rebel Brigade of the Ku Klux Klan. He has endorsed Trump, saying he is best for the job of president. He also said that Trump believes in a lot of things that Klan members believe in.

Salon politics staff writer Chauncey DeVega got to the point when writing the following about Trump and the Republican Party:

"Donald Trump is a racist, a bigot, a nativist and a fascist. The Republican Party in the post-Civil Rights era has become the United States' largest de facto white identity organization."

It is hard to argue with that. A Trump presidency will not root out racism, quite the contrary. Some of his supporters have already been emboldened by his rhetoric and express it one way or another against the "Other," i.e., Mexicans, Muslims and blacks.

Trump's denials about racism ring hollow. He can't help himself. "God" help us if he were to become president.