Donald Trump`s red “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hats are ubiquitous, you can`t go to a ballpark, parade or any public gathering without seeing scores of them.

But because something is popular it doesn`t mean that it`s innocuous or harmless; I would argue that the popularity of the MAGA hats are a symbol of the rise of racism and the decline of democracy.

The MAGA hats have become a hot-button topic, in the wake of the racially charged confrontation near Washington, D.C,`s Lincoln Memorial. Alyssa Milano famously called the caps the modern-day hoods of the Klu Klux Klan.

The standoff involving a group of male students from Covington Catholic High School, who were wearing MAGA hats, and Nathan Phillips, a Native American elder, has come to symbolize the racial divide.

During the 2016 presidential campaign the MAGA hats may have been a neutral symbol, but now they are synonymous with the blatantly racist Trump administration.

The MAGA hat amplifies the racist message that America was great in the 40`s and 50`s when America was predominantly white, and that it can be great again if we deport Mexican, Central American and Haitian immigrants and other riffraff.

Those MAGA kids (Is there a more horrifying phrase?) might as well been wearing KKK regalia while jeering the Native American elder.

You can`t wear a KKK hood in public without facing a visceral backlash, you risk being verbally if not physically assaulted.

Nobody should feel comfortable or safe wearing a MAGA hat, as an Hispanic I take it as a personal affront whenever I see a racist wearing a MAGA cap.

I don`t advocate violence, but I`m surprised that there haven`t been any incidents of MAGA cap-wearing racists assaulted by minorities. To wear a MAGA hat is an intolerable provocation, Trump supporters might as well wear a T-Shirt that says: I hate coons and spicks.

We can start making America Great Again by making it crystal clear that it`s not OK to wear A MAGA hat, and that if you wear one in public, you will pay a price.