Carol Anderson, professor of African-American Studies at Emory University, wrote today in the New York Times about the formula that lies behind Donald Trump’s rise and election: white resentment.
She writes:
If there is one consistent thread through Mr. Trump’s political career, it is his overt connection to white resentment and white nationalism. Mr. Trump’s fixation on Barack Obama’s birth certificate gave him the white nationalist street cred that no other Republican candidate could match, and that credibility has sustained him in office — no amount of scandal or evidence of incompetence will undermine his followers’ belief that he, and he alone, could Make America White Again.
The guiding principle in Mr. Trump’s government is to turn the politics of white resentment into the policies of white rage — that calculated mechanism of executive orders, laws and agency directives that undermines and punishes minority achievement and aspiration. No wonder that, even while his White House sinks deeper into chaos, scandal and legislative mismanagement, Mr. Trump’s approval rating among whites (and only whites) has remained unnaturally high. Washington may obsess over Obamacare repeal, Russian sanctions and the debt ceiling, but Mr. Trump’s base sees something different — and, to them, inspiring.
Like on Christmas morning, every day brings his supporters presents: travel bans against Muslims, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Hispanic communities and brutal, family-gutting deportations, a crackdown on sanctuary cities, an Election Integrity Commission stacked with notorious vote suppressors, announcements of a ban on transgender personnel in the military, approval of police brutality against “thugs,” a denial of citizenship to immigrants who serve in the armed forces and a renewed war on drugs that, if it is anything like the last one, will single out African-Americans and Latinos although they are not the primary drug users in this country. Last week, Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions put the latest package under the tree: a staffing call for a case on reverse discrimination in college admissions, likely the first step in a federal assault on affirmative action and a determination to hunt for colleges and universities that discriminate against white applicants…
That white resentment simply found a new target for its ire is no coincidence; white identity is often defined by its sense of being ever under attack, with the system stacked against it. That’s why Mr. Trump’s policies are not aimed at ameliorating white resentment, but deepening it. His agenda is not, fundamentally, about creating jobs or protecting programs that benefit everyone, including whites; it’s about creating purported enemies and then attacking them.
In the end, white resentment is so myopic and selfish that it cannot see that when the larger nation is thriving, whites are, too. Instead, it favors policies and politicians that may make America white again, but also hobbled and weakened, a nation that has squandered its greatest assets — its people and its democracy.
Professor Anderson fears that Trump’s skillful manipulation of angry whites will keep him in office.
But Trump’s current poll rating–which he does not mention–is 33%. That is his hardcore basis of angry white people. They still believe in him. They believe he will provide healthcare for everyone. They believe he has a secret plan to end the Afghanistan war. They believe he will build a great wall to keep out immigrants. They still chant “lock her up” at his rallies, which give him the inspiration to ignore the poll numbers and the general scorn heaped on him by the mainstream media.
33% is not a number that impresses his fellow Republicans. They are not afraid of him any more.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Dr. Anderson is correct. Or as I would characterize it, our Dear Leader’s support is built on racism, resentment, and those who believe in lottery tickets. Climate change, the denial of which is a subset of resentment, as those of us from Louisiana might say, is a perverted type of lagniappe. It is becoming impossible to remain optimistic, or even hopeful, about our children’s future.
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If this is true, then it is an even more of a national disgrace then having Trump as our president (if that can even be imagined)
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It is true .
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There’s a silent group supporting Trump policies and it’s not the lottery ticket crowd. It’s a version of the moderate elite. They believe immigrants should come here legally and immigration policies should go to supporting the country. They believe you shouldn’t have sex if you can’t afford consequences (having a child or not having a child). If you have a child, the government should not require businesses to give you paid time off – either male or female. These are not angry whites. They are a combination of people who have resources, but believe in self-reliance and don’t squander money on unnecessary items.
They are the first to support causes that benefit them either in the eyes of their peers or to pad a resume to help get their kids into a better school. They live in posh neighborhoods with the best public schools and have connections in the private schools. They work hard. They do not believe they are racist. Live in our neighborhoods and attend school with us if you can afford it. They are gender neutral. In fact, so gender neutral that cultural differences that aren’t gender neutral are problematic. They are the group that benefits from existing policies and uses them to their advantage. They think Trump is a buffoon, but like that his policies that are making the market thrive and ignore the things they don’t agree with (climate change). They don’t mind giving basic help to those who need it. It’s the cost of the “other” that’s problematic. It’s the idea of spending money on the appearance of leveling the playing field when it will never be level. The fact is that no matter what we do, the privileged (any color, any gender) will always be one step ahead.
Please be aware that i am just stating what I notice.
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So I hear you saying that the Trump success depends on a vague alliance between those who see personal responsibility as the most important value, and this group described by Anserson above. Do I correctly understand your point?
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I understand that you are making an observation and not a defense .
“There’s a silent group supporting Trump policies and it’s not the lottery ticket crowd. It’s a version of the moderate elite. They believe immigrants should come here legally and immigration policies should go to supporting the country.”
Yet they hire the Gardener,the contractor , with the “illegal Immigrant” work force . While they take the car off for a wash by “illegals”
“They believe you shouldn’t have sex if you can’t afford consequences (having a child or not having a child). If you have a child, the government should not require businesses to give you paid time off – either male or female. These are not angry whites. They are a combination of people who have resources, but believe in self-reliance and don’t squander money on unnecessary items.”
Yes one of my favorite examples of a deplorable who is now 55 , who got pregnant at 16 ,lived in her parents house raising the child in an illegal mother daughter apartment with 2 bedrooms a bath ,kitchen ………. Drove an SUV provided by daddy and did not have to work a day in her life .
CK feels it was the woman’s liberation movement that forced women into the labor market ,not economics . She can’t understand why a woman would not just have the baby and give it up for adoption a choice she never had to deal with .
Yes this is an extreme example of wealth and disconnect . But is it different from the construction tradesman whose father got him a position in a Lilly white union at a time no Blacks need apply . Or whose uncle works on Wall Street and puts in a word to HR at another firm ,on or off the street.
“They are a combination of people who have resources, but believe in self-reliance and don’t squander money on unnecessary items.”
I suspect when you scratch the surface There is more advantage and or circumstance and a lot less merit than meets the eye with most of these people . As for squandering money that perception is relevant to how much one has to squander .
The worker who works at a minimum wage job. Works as hard probably harder than the worker earning 6 figures . The teacher in a poor district with low wage in an RTW state works as hard as the highly rewarded on long Island . The PHD working as a homeless adjunct as hard as a tech wiz. The non union construction worker as hard as the Union tradesman whose minimum wage on federal work, could be a 6 figure salary as set by Congress . 70% of whom voted for a man who would gut that 1928 law.
“They are the first to support causes that benefit them either in the eyes of their peers or to pad a resume to help get their kids into a better school.” True that, their pocket book more important than their peers . It shook up a lot of people, the thought of medicaid cut backs causing them to have a worthless living trust. Or having to pull granny out of the nursing home.
“They don’t mind giving basic help to those who need it. It’s the cost of the “other” that’s problematic. ”
“When they hear about spending, they will invariably hear things like we spend $40 billion a year on foreign aid or $17.3 billion on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Most people will think these figures are large sums, since they dwarf the sums that people see in their daily lives. In fact, the former is less than one percent of the $4.1 trillion that we will spend in 2017, while the latter is just over 0.4 percent of total spending… … ” D.B.
Welfare costs them a hundred dollars a couple food stamps a bit more .They seldom question the Sports Stadium their taxes help pay for . With tickets the poor could never afford.
I say these things not because I envy their privilege ,but because I realize how lucky I have been . As hard as I feel I worked ,It was privilege and circumstance that rewarded my efforts . Merritt had little to do with it.
A related article .
http://www.alternet.org/labor/uber-democrats-workers-should-cooperate-not-compete
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Yes race, but also class. He tapped into the resentment that many blue and pink collar people have regarding Ivy League type elites. Bernie has a U of Chicago degree, Hillary also degrees from elite universities. Neither probably could have won the electoral college given the high turnouts among the resentful.
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Do you think this resentment is based on a fair evaluation of the performance of these people? Or do you perceive this resentment as a product of natural envy of those who have had great opportunities?
Recently, a local referendum defeated a tax that was to be used to build a high school. Even in the districts where the students lived who would benefit from the high school, the vote went against it. Most of these voters were Trump supporters, although there were many Trump supporters who did support the tax, seeing it as the way to get a new school for the area. What does this say about the body politic, which placed Trump in office by a huge geographical majority, but by a voter minority that was significant?
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Q What does this say about the body politic, which placed Trump in office by a huge geographical majority, but by a voter minority that was significant? END Q
It says, that the constitution is working exactly the way the framers intended. The framers studied Montesquieu . This political philosopher advocated and “dispersion” of powers, to prevent a “mobocracy”
see
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/montesquieu/montesquieu-bio.html
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Actually that is not correct. The Founders created the electoral college as a body of wise men who would assure that no populist fool or no agent of a foreign power got elected. It was supposed to be a deliberative body,not a rubber stamp.
Hamilton wrote about this in the Federalist Papers. I think it was 68, will check.
The electoral college was created to be certain that Trump was never elected. It failed.
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I don’t think it is fair that people that have lost access to low skill blue collar jobs to blame it on people with advanced degrees. However many urbanites feel superior to rural residents. Lots of Northerners feel superior to Southerners. A lot of Northerners heard Pres. Jimmy Carter’s southern accent and didn’t take his intellect seriously, and he is a nuclear engineer. Trump tapped into this dynamic.
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Chris
That resentment goes both ways and for quite some time it has been far greater on the right . With open hatred being spewed for decades .In fact the portrayal of liberals as elites is designed to enslave workers .What is a redneck . Until very recently he was the core and will be the core of the democratic party if it is to survive .
Strange how the meaning of words change over time. A Redneck in 1922 West Virginia would probably blow Trumps head off before he would ever be voting for him.
Just compare the two conventions and I did object to the phony Hollywood love fest extravaganza the Democrats put on . But the Republican convention was a hate fest . None (very few )of those delegates were working class at that hate fest. They were well off Republicans who despised the poor and working class in their home districts as much as the they despise the liberal democrats who pretend to stand for them. Who encourage firms like Nissan to threaten to close down rather allow a union . The Rednecks had an answer for that ,1.2 million rounds of Ammunition fired in the largest battle since the civil war on American soil.
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I am glad that there were so many responses to this question, but I feel,the answers often removed the context in which I raised it. So I will be direct.
What does it mean about the body politic when people vote against their own self interest? These are people who put Trump into power and refused to pay for a school they all wanted.
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I tend to agree. I am damn sick and tired of the government being run by the bi-coastal elite. Those people have no use for the rest of us, here in “fly-over country”.
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Charles,
Virginia is not fly over country
Sorry
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Depends on where your travel begins and ends. If you are flying from New York City to Miami, You usually fly over Virginia.
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Much of Virginia is a suburb of D.C.
No one ever called D.C. Or Virginia fly-over country
Fly over is everything between the coasts
Not Va!
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“bi-coastal elite”: like Texas oil interests, like Kansas Koch money, like Indiana Pence-fueled intolerance, like Wisconsin-led union busting, like Missouri-led anti-choice, like Michigan-led school privatization, like…
I’m actually sick and tired of people oversimplifying complex problems with trite phrases.
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GregB
Me too .
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Sanders graduated the University of Chicago long before the Chicago school of economics put it on the map when Reagan was elected and Friedman and his economic team made voodoo economics,main stream instead of fake news . The Socialist Jew from Brooklyn was never perceived as an elitist . By working class Americans the question was never that his agenda was wrong but rather how he could accomplish it .
The polls were not wrong they were spot on. The National number and the state numbers were spot on . Not one of those states she lost was outside the margin of error . She just lost all of them . Think of it as the odds of flipping a coin being 50/50 .
What the polls did not, could not predict was that all those 50/50 choices would be Trump. So right into the conventions what did those polls show. That Sanders had a much wider margin than Clinton. Most polls showed double digits rather than single digit. We can discuss Hillary’s win in the Democratic Primary after we discuss Boss Tweed (Yes Boss Tweed is long dead ,the Clinton machine may now finally join him.)and how that affected the black political class leadership. Or the corporately owned media.
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elitist by working Class Americans. The question (edit button )
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I was going to mention the University of Chicago economic philosophy above. So glad that elitist East Coast Socialist Jew wasn’t indoctrinated by those under-the-flight resentful minds. To quote a great Greek philosopher, “Oy!”
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This is harsh and whoever needs Medicaid or food stamps or free school lunches should get them, but you really have to live in a lower income white area to “get” the extent of this.
I’m still shocked at how many white people here who are really dependent on government programs supported Donald Trump.
Our (rural) hospital would close without Medicaid. Close. It would no longer exist, yet 70% of people happily voted for a guy who wants to end Medicaid.
I cannot imagine this place without government programs. People would be sleeping in the streets. They simply don’t make enough to survive. Yet. 70%.
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They never see their privilege as privilege.
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They “earned” it!
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What’s funny to me is to see Trump crowing and taking credit for new job creation. Wasn’t it just yesterday that the working class turned on Hillary for saying the economy is fine, new jobs were being added? Now Trump is taking credit, while the working class sees only new part-time, two-tier, lower wage jobs with reduced benefits and no pensions. The period of affluence after WWII is over, the world economy has been in crisis for decades, and the only solution offered is to make workers pay.
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Agreed. They as you say were right, Clinton was wrong . Where the share of productivity and prosperity was going was the problem. Trump was right . Not in his wild claims of 25% unemployment but about the level of economic discontent in the country.
I am going to disagree with you about that period of prosperity “affluence ” after world war 2 . The economy has grown much bigger the GDP per capita has grown much bigger .
http://www.multpl.com/us-real-gdp-per-capita/table/by-year
So in theory their should be no reason that every American should not be far wealthier than they were after ww2 (iphones electronic bling does not count as wealth, see E. Warren on that) It is not a matter of the size of our wealth GDP but how it is distributed . That is a political process. “Who gets What”
Was a factory worker ever more skilled than a store clerk . Are today’s meat Packers less skilled than they were a half century ago . How about teachers are they less skilled, do they have less certification and experience. (don’t answer that) . Somebody makes decisions who the winners and losers will be everyday . The problem lies in who they are picking and why.
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GNP is not a valid measure in isolation. If farmers are paid not to grow crops causing prices to go up so that the total value goes up, are we then wealthier? The stock market broke 22,000. Does this indicate increases in production? We seem to be on a dead end path…
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Detroiter
GNP may be an imperfect measure and it was either Jack or bobby Kennedy that said so five decades ago . I am agreeing with your prime assertion . We have several available measures to go by GDP being one of them. But as you say destruction is not a valid measure of growth.
Paper Markets are not , unemployment especially the headline number U3 is not . Chained CPI certainly is not . But all of these numbers tell a story and in order to tell that story correctly they have to be considered with their faults.
The story that they tell is of a Middle class family(I use that term loosely) who is working more hours for substantially less income and feels insecure about their future and their children’s future . While the 1% (perhaps 5%) is doing better than any time since the roaring twenties ,
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But, (and obviously I don’t speak for ‘them’ – it’s just my opinion) I know a lot of lower income Trump voters and they really do resent “elites”, they really do feel their political representatives are out of touch and I have to say I agree.
There doesn’t seem to be any real understanding of how difficult it is to live on 15 dollars an hour. It’s not that they’re not ambitious or don’t want to do better- it’s that living on low wages takes all their time and energy. They just go from crisis to crisis. They live so close to disaster there’s no real room for “ambition”- I mean, there’s SOME of it- we have really poor kids who excel every year but they’re the exception. They’re extraordinary PEOPLE, those kids. Most of them don’t overcome it.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I have to think some of the answer is that our political leaders don’t seem to live in the same world as most of their constituents. Something like half the members of Congress are millionaires. Many of them are multi-millionaires. They don’t even go to public colleges let alone public K-12 schools. I think the entire current Supreme Court came out of two or three elite colleges. This is just NOT most peoples’ experience of living in the United States.
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Wow…so wrong! It’s more about American pride and the desire for ALL Americans…NOT just white…to have a prosperous and safe FUTURE! Time for everyone to realize an open borders…socialistic society direction with Obama was far from the right direction for this country .. or any country at that! Hence Europe (open borders) and of course…Venezuela (socialism)! Just hope the crazies dont try to murder the one man that has had the determination and resilience to withstand the attacks from all sides and witch hunt for crimes NOT committed…to save this country from the demise it was headed for with a Hillary controlled govt! Still waiting to see what was destroyed during HER campaign from her devices!?! No interest there though!?! Trump.supporters just want to see an America that is the great nation it is …stay great! COLOR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT…SORRY!
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“Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”: Proverbs 16:18
“A cat that kills a mouse is gruesome. A savage who rips open his prey is gruesome. But the most gruesome of all living creatures is a patriotic woman.” („Eine Katze die eine Maus tötet, ist grausam. Ein Wilder, der seinen Feind auffrißt, ist grausam. Aber das grausamste von allen Lebewesen ist eine patriotische Frau.“): Kurt Tucholsky
If you say it wasn’t racial when they shot him in his tracks
well I guess that means that you ain’t black, it means that you ain’t black
I mean Barack Obama won and you can choose where to eat
but you don’t see too many white kids lying bleeding on the street: Patterson Hood
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“socialistic society direction with Obama was far from the right direction for this country ”
What ever you are smoking “don’t Bogart that joint my friend pass it over to me”. Frankly alcohol is not enough to put up with the nonsense and ignorance coming out of your mouth. What open borders .
Trump supporters have no pride in America or they could never have voted for such a low life ————————- . The laughing stock of the whole civilized world . Who tells the Mexican President that he does not give a crap about the wall,except that Mexico has to pay for it, or it will make him look bad. Whose renegotiation of NAFTA is looking like the TPP on steroids . A true American hero ,draft dodging, corrupt sob , who has stiffed everybody he ever dealt with and who no farther would leave his 13 year old daughter in a room with for 30 seconds.
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You just inspired me to put some Little Feat and Lowell George on my Sunday afternoon play list. Thanks, I needed that!
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Trump is: Making America GRATE, not great.
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I’ve been scratching my head since Trump was elected trying to figure out who would vote for him and why. The most helpful writing I’ve read so far is “Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right” by Arlie Hochschild. The author spent five years interviewing people in Louisiana and learned a great deal about their social, economic, religious, and political attitudes. And she learned about their lives. I now get it. Today’s NYT column by Carole Anderson describes these folks. Hochschild’ book provides insightful depth and reasons beyond the descriptions. I recommend the book for fellow head scratchers. I certainly don’t feel any better about this deplorable situation we’re in, but I understand it better and the reasons the 30 – 40 percent still love Trump. As Anderson astutely asserts- for Trump voters, it’s like Christmas morning every day: ” every day brings presents.” That’s the ugly truth the rest of us have to face.
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Nothing new here it is a 100 year project . “Pawns in their Game” as Dylan described them fitly years ago.
“A South politician preaches to the poor white man
“You got more than the blacks, don’t complain.
You’re better than them, you been born with white skin,” they explain.
And the Negro’s name
Is used it is plain
For the politician’s gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain’t him to blame
He’s only a pawn in their game”
Just add to that the perception that blacks were not at bottom but cutting ahead of them. And you get the crowds screaming lock her up.
An inbred culture of hate dating back to reconstruction . And perhaps a dying breed, with each new generation. What is new is the degree that the oligarchy “with the fertilization of de industrialization has been able to move this north . Yet perhaps it is not surprising and has been there all along. Perhaps it was only interrupted by a brief period of prosperity after the great depression.
One that ended as Jobs moved first South and then out of the country. As women entered the workforce yet families struggled to do what one wage earner used to provide back in the 70s .
Jay Gould Robber Barron one bragged he could get half the working class to kill the other half . Perhaps he could as 60% of Nisan’s workers rejected a union in Mississippi yesterday. Did they think the 25 dollar wage was out of the goodness of Nissan’s heart . Their wage was based on keeping the union out . Soon the Mexicans will be going home for higher wages.
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All white people who voted for Trump are racist, resentful and fear diversity? I have always found labels offensive and frankly, ignorant. I remember a friend years ago telling me that he steered clear of black people because of one kid in seventh and eighth grade who antagonized him and caused him to live in utter fear for those two years. Recently a young person told me that he does not like cops because he got pulled over twice in the last year and one of the cops was a power hungry bully. So “I’m not very fond of cops.” The generalizing is never ending: “liberals”, “Republicans”, “all blacks”, “all whites”… In my view, labeling causes terrible problems in big and little ways. I was labeled when I was younger as “not good at math”. And this is caused a problem for me all my life. Jews are labeled, Germans are labeled… All of this labeling is erroneous! How can we possibly make assumptions about millions of people by a few? Or in the case of my young friend, millions of police officers based on one who was nasty?
The author has neatly packaged her theory grouping millions of people into one narrow category. With all due respect, this seems to me to be ignorant and most assuredly racist.
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Unfortunately too many liberals dichotomize: blacks (poor, victims,etc) and whites (so much better of, richer, etc) and forget that there are poor whites. Ever hear of Apalachia? I am a liberal, but I understand the rage of working class and poor whites. And I understand their racism. Democrats lost the election because they either forgot or discounted these people
Remember the line from Dylan song? “The poor white remains the caboose on the train. He is only a pawn in their game ” ???
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