Tens of millions voted for him out of fearful racism. Most will never admit they were wrong. They are embarrassed, angry, and ignorant. Miserable people collapsed into their own hateful rage. They'll never admit that seeing a black man in the White House made them do this.
One summer when I was about 12, my aunt and I drove out to some place to pick up something she bought. We stopped at a little family country store on the side of the road. They had a small library in there. Books for sale. I found a biography of Hillary. Snapped it right up.
Well, my aunt and I go to the cash register. I remember this big-ass Confederate flag on the wall behind the counter. Guy at the counter is ringing folks up. We step up with our purchases. He sees my book, and I swear to god, I saw his jaw clench. The change in mood was instant.
He slows down his movements as though to drag out the interaction and take his time on figuring out what to say. There was a chill in the air. His anger felt palpable. He rings up the book and says "Not sure why you'd want this." His drawl dug into our skin like sharp hooks.
It was a pointed, barely-restrained rage in his voice. It was as though he was working through the math of the situation: not only was there a Hillary book in his shitty little store but a customer was buying it and a white male teenager, no less. All of it colliding in his mind.
My aunt, probably as terrified as I was in the sudden change of tone, was dead silent. We picked our things up, and she pulled on my arm toward the door. He glared--and I mean GLARED--at us as we left. I witnessed good ol' boy hatred growing up, but that was a moment of its own.
This is the late '90s. You turn on talk radio in Central Texas, and you get some hateful opinions on the airwaves. All this crazy conspiracy shit? It's not new. The unabashed racism and sexism and homophobia and transphobia? Not new. The willful ignorance of it all? Not new.
When I see pundits claim Trump supporters were "tricked", a part of me dies inside. Because the real problem isn't being addressed. None of them were tricked. They were just looking for someone to validate their hatred. Trump did. He told them exactly what they wanted to hear.
They've always been viciously racist. They've always hated "uppity women". They've always hated LGBTQ folks and Muslims and Jews. They might make allowances, sure: "My daughter is in law school." "My grandson is half-black." "My cousin is gay." "My next-door neighbor is Jewish."
Those are the "good ones", they might say. Under control. They've proved they're either sufficiently family or a wise investment or not "uppity". They've soothed fears.
That does not translate to the rest of the populace. Doesn't work that way.
That does not translate to the rest of the populace. Doesn't work that way.
I am the result of two lines of southern "white trash". That's what they call poor white people. Generations of poor white folks. I have heard OTHER poor whites call poor whites "white trash" without a trace of self-awareness. So much self-hatred boiling under, barely contained.
Oh, you didn't know? There is no actual "pride" among the vast majority of southern whites. There is resentment and anger and denial and desperation. They hate wealthier whites, educated whites, polished whites. Whites who have made it. But that racism remains. Why?
Because whiteness is the one remaining card they have. Well, add masculinity in there, too. But that's not talked about as much. But it's there. Throw in some religion that furthers the "othering". Separates the pack. White, straight, male Christian. Yahtzee.
Whiteness is a religion with adherents that never admit they worship. The idea that we're going to create a more just society with THEIR help is ridiculous. That ship has sailed, folks. Long ago. And all we have now is fighting the good fight by turning up to make things happen.
This does not end with November. Or with Trump impeached and convicted. Or with a liberal/progressive/leftist/whatever-the-hell president in 2020. It does not end with a Blue Wave. It's just the start. We will have to keep showing up, again and again.
Because those folks? Most don't give a damn. Most will decay in their hatred and self-loathing. They'll be planted in the ground with it. They cannot be changed. Sorry, not happening. We have to build a coalition of rational adults in this country.
And that'll have to mean making more room at the table: more women, people of color, more **WOMEN OF COLOR**, more LGBTQ folks, more folks with disabilities. A government that looks like America. Power redistributed justly. That's the only way it'll work. The only way.
And then, we have to show up and vote. Every time. And no apologizing for being right or educated or progressive. No "both sides". Simple knuckle-down advocacy. Demanding what's right. It'll be uncomfortable. It will often suck. But it will be worth it.
This is not meant to bum anyone out. It's just... reality. This is what it will take, and I believe we're up for it. I have faith in our ability to overcome and transform. /thread
