OPINION: When Trump Says 'Not Just Us,' Who Is He Talking About?

— -- You can tell from watching the video clip that when Donald Trump waved his hand in front of the Las Vegas crowd -- a quick abbreviated motion, fingers spread, eyes locked -- that he thought he was saying something good. And in his defense, the phrase “not just us” sounds inherently good, if not inclusive. Then he followed his gesture of attempted good with “we want to help African-Americans” and well, if this emperor had any threads left hanging on his spray-tanned body, they were brushed aside by that very same hand wave.

In retrospect, we should not be surprised that Trump indirectly revealed his campaign to be predominantly built on little more than a 2016 version of the “take our country back” mantra that erupted soon after a black man became president. Especially considering just a little more than a year ago he began his unconventional journey by riding down an escalator, stepping up to a microphone, and insulting Latinos in the name of patriotism. His rationale and tone echoed the same condescending rhetoric of the physicians at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center who were sued for allegedly coercing Latino women into sterilization in the 1960s and 70s (ultimately, they were found not guilty, but policy changes were implemented). That is -- in order to for America to be great, it must stay white.

Pew Research Center estimates in 30 years there will no longer be a racial majority in this country. And while that projected browning of the nation may encourage some to want to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, it has frightened tens of millions of others. The fact that radical hate groups and militias have dramatically increased since 2008 is not a coincidence. And neither should the rise of a candidate who hesitated denouncing the support of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, although he ultimately disavowed the support.

Trump has said he is not a racist, but some have accused him of being just that.

But his “not just us” chatter not only suggests he knows who the vast majority of his supporters are but hints at who he views as his fellow Americans. Otherwise why the uncalled for separation between “us” and “African-Americans”? The fact that he appears to point at a finite number of presumed blacks in the crowd and repeat “thank you” only makes the matter worse. Not “look at my African-American over here” worse —- which was something he said while pointing a black man during a rally in Redding, CA -- but it was still pretty bad.

Am I splitting hairs in search of a fault?

No, according comments he made in 1989, as reported by Mother Jones. In it he claimed “a well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market," completely ignorant of the fact that since the 1960s the unemployment rate for blacks compared to whites was double and that during the 1980s it actually increased to 2.5 times the rate. Even today, according to a study that combed statistics gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census, black men with an associates degree have nearly the same chance of landing a job as a white male with a high school diploma.

Whatever period of American history in which Trump believed “if I were starting off today I would love to be a well-educated black because I really believe they do have an actual advantage” does not exist according to every significant quality of life metric -- from life expectancy and education to wealth and employment.

Nonetheless, part of the reason why he’s the presumptive GOP nominee is because he’s reached that segment of the population that believes being a white heterosexual male is a disadvantage. And before you roll your eyes, know in a recent poll 57 percent of whites believe American way of life has gotten worse in the past 60 years compared to 46 percent of all Americans who believe things have gotten better. There's a massive wave of anxiety out there folks and Trump has done a masterful job of riding it.

That is the “us” in the “not just us” part of the sentence he uttered last weekend in Nevada. I’m not sure if he meant to be so blatant about the identity politics aspect of his platform but then again it’s been fairly obvious for some time now. In 2007, then-senator Obama touted “change" and today Trump wears a red baseball cap promoting a return.

A return to what, we’re not exactly clear because Trump’s policies are not clear. But Pew found that 75 percent of his voters believe the country has gotten worse for people like them over the past 50 years. I don’t think I need to remind you what the country looked like in terms of identity politics in 1966.

Am I accusing all Trump supporters of being racists?

No.

I believe a fair number of open-minded people bought into this myth that “Trump” tells it like it is because of the forceful manner in which he speaks. But after the initial jolt of hearing a potential president speak plainly wears off and all you’re left with are transcripts filled with incoherence and inconsistencies, one would have thought over time another Republican candidate would have emerged. That hasn’t been the case. Instead you have a GOP establishment still split on whether or not to support a man who epitomizes the country’s resentment of immigration, affirmative action and any other New Deal policy that has slowly gnawed away at the country’s hierarchy.And by hierarchy I mean the “us” in Trump’s “not just us."

LZ Granderson is an ABC News contributor and co-host of the ABC News digital show "Strait Talk." He was also a 2015 Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and is a senior writer at the Undefeated. Opinions expressed in this column do not reflect those of ABC News.