You probably have an opinion about Donald Trump. Everyone who’s ever lived has an opinion about Donald Trump. In fact, so many people have opinions about Donald Trump that I blacklisted his name on all my social media for the sake of my mental health.

Of course, if you’ve ever spoken to me in real life, you can probably tell I don’t like Donald Trump. Most people who have an accurate definition of “racism” or “xenophobia” or “misogyny” also don’t like Donald Trump. The best part is that I can’t even tell if he believes the garbage that comes out of his mouth, or if he’s just so desperate for more time in the limelight or more votes or whatever that he’ll say anything to retain it.

Here’s the kicker, though: it doesn’t matter. By presenting himself as a real-life politician, he has legitimized the blatant white supremacy people have been harboring forever as genuine political opinion. For the love of God, he refused to condemn the KKK when their former leader endorsed him saying, “I don’t know what group you’re talking about. You wouldn’t want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about.” The freakin’ KKK.

The fact that a legitimate presidential candidate has said “laziness is a trait in Blacks,” as he said to a former employee in 1991, or “when Mexico sends its people… they’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime, they’re bringing rape,” as he said in his speech to announce his candidacy, or “I’m a negotiator, like you folks… [but] you’re not going to support me, because I don’t want your money. You want to control your own politician,” as Trump did to the Republican Jewish Coalition in December 2015, has provided comfort and legitimacy to the racists and anti-semites who have been feeling oppressed by whatever social progress we’ve been making. In that aspect, the damage has already been done.

In mid-March, Trump attempted to hold a rally at the UIC Pavilion, but protests prompted him to cancel due to “security concerns.” His supporters have called this an attack on free speech, but that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what free speech means. Sure, the government can’t stop you from spouting your nonsense, but that doesn’t mean the people around you have to provide you with a platform. If the UIC community didn’t want him there, they had no obligation to enable him to be terrible on their campus.

Yeah, maybe he’ll create jobs. I doubt it, but it’s not like I have an informed opinion given that he hasn’t expanded substantially on his positions beyond stating his desire to limit the rights of almost every minority group in this country. But the thing is it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if he’ll create jobs when he’s said the things he has about the Blacks, the Muslims, the Hispanics (using the definite article, as if these groups are monoliths). The right to exist safely exists above all else, and that’s what Trump is attacking.