Donald Trump is such a refreshing Republican candidate for president.

His bluster and egomania are exposing the thinking of so many people who simmer with deep-seated hatred and bigotry.

Now, with his thoughtless ranting and raving, he has become their champion to speak openly the words that are in their hearts but they dare not speak.

What should be of concern is Mr. Trump’s willingness to discard history and the U.S. Constitution.

Take the issue of “anchor babies,” a pejorative term Mr. Trump has helped popularize in disparaging babies born in this country to visitors and undocumented people because those babies automatically become American citizens under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

Mr. Trump calls such birthright citizenship for babies who are born to people making illegal entry a scandal and has said repeatedly that, if elected, he would end a policy that he believes is a stain on this country, allowing too many children to be here who don’t belong, the Constitution be damned.

And many of his fellow Republican candidates agree, most notably Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another candidate for president who believes the Constitution does not apply to him. (Sen. Cruz, who was born in Canada, cannot serve as president or vice president since one of the qualifications under the Constitution is to be a natural-born citizen.)

Neither Mr. Trump nor the rest of his ilk have any interest in reading the amendment, let alone learning why the birthright provision is part of the Constitution.

The 14th Amendment was created to provide a shield for our community and for others who have been stomped on.

In 1857, just before the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the infamous Dred Scott decision that no one of African ancestry could ever be a citizen of the United States, that citizenship was reserved solely for those with lighter skin from England or Europe.

After the Union won the Civil War and stamped out slavery, the Republican-controlled Congress went even further to overturn the Dred Scott decision and ensure African-Americans were recognized as citizens. Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment explicitly grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

Today, others are taking advantage for their children, but because those under 21 are barred from bringing relatives to this country, it does not help their parents and siblings who were born elsewhere to gain legal admission.

For us, when we hear Mr. Trump and anyone else who is eager to repeal, challenge, overturn or otherwise change that amendment, we hear someone eager to wipe out our citizenship, someone who is a closet supporter of slavery and peonage, someone eager to have a group of people at their disposal who have no rights this country is bound to respect.

We say to Mr. Trump, your position reflects unforgivable ignorance that renders you, and anyone who agrees with you, unfit for public office in any capacity. How could you possibly swear to support, defend and uphold the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic? You are the enemy.