I think it all these articles talking about the white working class’s alienation from the parties (especially democratic party) as the cause of the rise of trump despite his xenophobia, racist, patriarchal, misogynistic, Islamophobic views makes the error of how inherently these feelings exist in the white working class to uplift their lives. The division of people using identity politics makes the white working class feel better about their subordinated position because “at least we are white”. These tactics have been used ever since slavery to mobilize the white working class to uplift the white bourgeois structure. So while recognizing that the white working class does feel alienated from the parties and current political system (they ignore that people of color do too and still voted either Hillary or didn’t vote at all) they also inherently tolerate and often uplift the same disgusting views that Trump exemplifies.
The banality of evil is a very important thing to remember. Nazi soldiers weren’t any group of people that were distinctly evil. Many were just that, disenfranchised white people with families that fell into the propaganda of Hitler and Germany. In no way do I mean to compare these people to Nazi soldiers but I use this example just to show how the worst of evil can co-exist within very normal average people. I believe that is a very scary thing for people and especially the media to come to terms with. We like to know very clearly who our villains and heroes are. To think that the factory worker down the street with 3 kids that volunteers at the local YMCA as a coach could also hold sentiments that uplift white supremacy and patriarchy in very ugly ways while loving his family, kids, and immediate community is disturbing. Using phrases about people of color they know as “they are different” to excuse their over arching abusive views of different marginalized groups. This has been a norm in the USA for a long time but we continue to be afraid to point out this elephant in the room as we provide our analysis of Trumps victory. A recognition that White Supremacy and Manifest Destiny ideas still having such a strong underlying role in USA culture would force us to realize how far we still have to go. The resistance to acknowledge what people of color have known for so long, that the civil right movement was far from the establishment of a color blind society in the USA is a difficult thing for many white US Americans to come to terms with. They say the first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one. It is time to recognize white supremacy and patriarchal mentality for what it is and how it has contributed to the rise of Trump and truly begin to overthrow these systems of oppression or we will be in for a rough ride as a country.
With Revolutionary Love 