I could spend the remainder of this post writing about my initial and ongoing reaction to Trump's election, but to be honest that would be waste of time. At this point, no one wants to hear how marginalized groups felt when Trump was elected. No one wants to see our tears. No one wants to understand why we are afraid. Our worries, distress, and most of all, fear, is overshadowed by a different kind of fear - white fear.
Yes, I pulled the "race card". But before you write me off as someone who is using race to explain Trump's victory, ask yourselves: Was race a major component of this race? Yes. The better question is who made a race a major issue in this race? Who made homophobia, islamophobia, bigotry, misogyny, and so many other -isms, issues in this election cycle? Donald J. Trump. Despite the popular belief that Trump's is far from intelligent, I think he is an excellent strategist and, to some extent, intelligent. Here's why:
- First, Trump 's campaign was ALWAYS in the news. The man didn't have to worry about advertising since all networks had his name in their headlines each week.
- Next, Trump ensured that morality was a key issue in this election just so he could use it against his opponents. In wake of every atrocious statement Trump made, I now realize that, in some sense, he was "evening the playing field". Think about it. Whenever this man offended someone, for example, the LGBTQ+ community, he was able to counter these attacks with something bad Hillary and the DNC may have done towards that group.
Here's what we saw: People argue to Trump that choosing Mike Pence as VP and not overtly supporting gay rights is horrible. Trump, per his usual tactic, does not respond to being called out but points to how Hillary did not support gay rights until this past decade or so. The same applies for his rape/sexual accusations; he didn't respond to them in full but, instead he pointed to Bill Clinton's notorious affair. Time and time again, Trump created opportunities for him to attack his adversaries. (Although he still did this without said opportunities, but you all get the point.) - Lastly, Trump tapped into a base of voters that your typical Republican candidate would not overtly pursue. This group of people has many names - the "alt-right", white supremacists, racist, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the "not-so-silent majority", and the list goes on. Each of the people in these groups believed that white people are the supreme race and that they should continue to possess, embrace, and celebrate their privilege. It's disgusting, but for the sake of this post, I'm not going to provide my litany of reasons on why that is the case. Trump recognized this group, evaluated their influence, and understood that by gaining them as supporters, he would have their unwavering loyalty. He tapped into their white fear.
Each strategy is so fucked up, but remember who we're talking about here. Focus on the "White Fear" strategy and ask what does this phrase mean. White fear is a product of systematic racism. White people, before black people were emancipated, given civil rights, and had one of them become president, were not afraid of being the minority. They didn't have to fear a day when their government was not filled with people like them. They didn't have to fear a day when minorities would be seeking to marry people like them. They didn't have to fear minorities becoming the majority and exposing their white privilege.
Once they did have to start fearing those things, white people sought to keep white superiority alive. However, they were met with great resistance. Black people were not about to just lay down and relinquish their victories in the name of white superiority. As a result, that white fear transformed into a more potent concoction, white anger. What happens when that white anger is bottled up for too long? It evolves and is expressed as white-lash. We've seen this over and over again throughout history. Angry white people donning a cone-shaped hat, whips, chains, hungry, racist dogs, water hoses, police uniforms, and proceeding to retaliate against black people and other marginalized groups. The result? Colored bodies on the streets and a ridiculously long list of colored people who fell victim to the highest form of white fear. The same thing happened in this election, except this time the victims are all individuals who are not white. Trump weaponized and exploited white fear in order to get elected.
I've heard explanations like "He's making America great again", "He's going to change up Washington", "He's going to drain the swamp and actually represent the people!". (Please do not excuse my language/rage) Bitch, please! This man does not give a fuck about you, your family, or the working-class (who you love to point out). He cares about his bottom line. If he did, he would have found a qualified candidate that could actually invoke this change you keep mentioning. We all know what a Trump presidency will amount to - business as usual for this new Republican party. Trump is a figurehead and just that. He has no political background whatsoever, and the Republican establishment is going to exploit the hell out of it, just like Trump did with white fear. The man preaches he's going to make America great again, but the fuck you mean "make [it] great again"??? I, for one, am not trying to go back to any older version of America. It's crazy to think that we can progress toward change while simultaneously regressing to the old way of doing things. Has America forgotten it's "old ways" hahaha? (I'm laughing at the stupidity of this slogan, not the actual "old ways" which were not good for any marginalized groups at all!)
So when you say you voted for Trump, please conduct an extensive evaluation of what you voted for because clearly what I just stated was something you chose to overlook. I say chose because that is one of the great things about being privileged, you get to ignore things like this. I don't.
I think you've made so many good points in this post. You said that Trump was merely a figurehead for the republican party and this really stood out for me. After he was elected, I heard so many people say "it'll be okay he won't actually do anything that he says he will." It's easy to forget the fact that he has the entire Republican party behind him. People are so willing to dismiss it and not acknowledge that because of this he can truly do some serious damage to our country.
ReplyDeleteI think this post is incredibly important. One thing I would disagree with slightly is that white fear of a black majority was not a part of society before civil rights laws and, in a broader sense, emancipation. I think what we talked about with Thomas Jefferson's "grabbing a wolf by the ears" quote perfectly sums up white fear after any stirrings of rebellion by slaves, which date back to rebellions on boats before ever setting foot in the Americas. I think there has always been a white fear of becoming the minority and losing dominance over society. What I think has changed is that society has somewhat progressed in shaming these racist ideas when blatantly stated. White fear is just as prevalent, but is much subtler and better hidden. And as you pointed out, Trump played on these subtleties perfectly.
ReplyDeleteEven many of the white people who did not vote for him have been saying things like, "well he's our president now. The people spoke and now we have to come together and support our president."Coming together to support a leader is fine, but in the case of Donald Trump, I simply cannot justify it. I cannot stand behind a man who hates so much, a man who uses fear and hatred to gain power. Those who say they will stand behind him just because he's their president come from a place of privilege. His presidency makes me fear the next four years. I fear for women's rights, I fear for LGBT+ rights which both personally affect me, but I also fear for the safety of people of color as well as non-christians. I am so enraged at the results of the election and I am ashamed of my country for voting for such a hateful man.
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