Trump Supporters ‘Afraid’ and ‘Angry’ to Lose Institutional Privilege

Photo Courtesy of Michael Vadon, Flickr Creative Commons

This election season has been one of the most unpredictable in American history and has seen candidates seemingly come out of nowhere to defy the political process. In the case of one candidate in particular — Donald Trump — basic human decency is also being defiled.

Blatant racist rants, sexist comments and violent outbursts against his own party are all things that would have killed a lesser candidate months ago, but still Trump's campaign maintains its popularity.

I have no doubt that similar articles have been written before, articles pleading with the public to cast Trump aside and redeem America's qualities as a civilized nation. However, I argue this kind of candidate has been on the way for a while now and is a sign of changing times. Convincing people not to vote for Trump will be a huge step in moving forward as a society.

Clearly, America’s demographics are changing, and the voices of historically oppressed people are not going to be ignored.

The Internet and the general American population have diversified and given power to people who have been robbed of it for centuries. So as far as logic goes, with all the people in the world, statistically it might make sense that a man like Trump could exist in the realm of politics, sending many people into varying degrees of panic.

I am well aware of the danger and wickedness one may expect in a Trump presidency, and I can grasp just how painful it would be to massive groups of Americans from all across our diverse spectrum. However, the reaction to this crisis is one of the most complex political issues that I have seen.

The anger from those who will become further marginalized from society is understandable and justified, but the anger doesn’t stop there.

Trump’s supporters are some of the angriest in the country, because, as I see it, they believe they are seeing their institutional power being taken away and spread out to people who they are genuinely afraid will take away their own power and privilege in society.

It is, perhaps, true to say that the America that Trump supporters love is dying, but mostly, it is dying because it needs to be reborn.

This country was never a white nation, no matter what twitter-hate mongers or uninformed school teachers say. America was built on a lie and ignored members of its own population for centuries – from its women to its minorities to its natives. These people are largely not being ignored anymore, and the ruling class is afraid that everything they see as great will not have any room in this new America.

In my estimation, Trump's supporters believe that in a Bernie nation, the shackles of injustice will end up on their hands, in their minds, their own people (i.e. white Americans) are letting it happen for the sake of being viewed as nice.

However, this is not true. America can, at times, be great and still have tremendous problems that need to be fixed.

This country went to the moon with help from people of diverse backgrounds, while simultaneously crushing its own people under Jim Crow laws. America helped stop Hitler, while building their own up racism. We did all of this, while still not holding true to our own American values.

It’s clear that traditional America was flawed and has done horrible things that are not close to being made up for. That being said, this country of brave men and courageous women can be great. We can start by crushing Trump, who reminds us of our dreadful past.

thecker@ramapo.edu