Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Roof feel as though non-whites are taking over the country and their words are inspiring racist ramblings by their fans.
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Given America’s history of slavery, racism, and segregation, and its present reality of mass incarceration, under-funded and resource-starved public schools and, police brutality—all disproportionately impacting African-Americans—it would be reasonable to assume that the aforementioned race would be the angriest group of people in the country. They’ve suffered countless injustices without as much as an apology from their government, let alone reparations.
But that’s not the case; in fact, quite the opposite is true: recent studies show white Americans, women in particular, are the angriest people in America.
White women, according to an anger poll conducted by NBC News and Esquire, get angrier than white men about current events like police shootings of unarmed black men and how the super rich control the election process.
But white men, like those who attend the rallies of Mr. Donald Trump, the front-runner among Republican Presidential candidates, are pretty angry, too, as is Mr. Trump.
These white men, unlike the white women who were polled, don’t appear to be as angry at the state of the union as much as they are angry at the state of their white privilege, finances and station in life.
According to the poll, men were more likely than women to say that they felt angry about the treatment of white men.
Since news headlines aren’t blaring about the punitive approaches by police towards white men, the treatment that seems to have so many of them angry appears to stem from a loss of status, opportunities and regard. In other words, the white man’s dominance in society is perceived to be shrinking, while groups once labeled minorities become the majority and, in some cases, out-earn their counterparts.
When Mr. Trump says “make America great again,” what is he really means, in my opinion, is make America largely white again, a place where the white man is seen as the ultimate symbol of power, prestige and privilege.
Mr. Trump’s attitude is somewhat similar to that of Mr. Dylann Roof’s, the domestic terrorist who last year entered a historic black church in South Carolina and murdered African-Americans. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Roof feel as though non-whites are taking over the country and their words are inspiring racist ramblings by their fans.
In the case of Mr. Roof, he received praise from Mr. John Houser, the 59 year-old who last year shot up a movie theater in Louisiana which resulted in two deaths. Mr. Houser said Mr. Roof was “green but good” and thanked him for the “wake-up call.”
In the case of Mr. Trump, white supremacists and nationalist have all but deified him. Most recently, in Iowa, a robocall, paid for by The American National Super PAC, urged caucus-goers to vote for Mr. Trump as he’s the only candidate who speaks out, unapologetically, on immigration and who understand that only “immigrants who are good for America” should be welcome.
“We don’t need Muslims, we need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture,” said Mr. Jared Taylor of American Renaissance, in a recording denounced by Mr. Trump.
Though Mr. Trump denounced the language, he condoned the anger, saying he viewed it as a necessary catalyst in his quest to “make America great again.”
It’s clear from Mr. Trump’s behavior, utterances, and supporters, that America’s greatness is rooted not in diversity, but in whiteness; more specifically, in white supremacy.
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CLICK HERE to listen to ‘Why the Black Vote Matters,’ a podcast from The Dr. Vibe Show featuring a panel of black male thought-leaders, including the co-founder of the ‘Vote or Die’ movement.
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Keep a look out in January 2016 for an NPR Music documentary starring Grammy Award-Winner Mr. Christian McBride and co-starring Mr. Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
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Photo: Getty Images
Yeah, I wonder why a laid off, divorced steelworker isn’t enthusiastic about the idea of paying reparations to an intellectual who writes for the Atlantic.
Why does Asia get to stay Asian, Africa stay African, native tribes get money to stay native, but whites in America and Europe have to become minorities? How can white people trust that this massive social experiment is going to turn out well for them and there won’t be some new dominant minority pressing whites?
I’m so glad someone is *finally* pointing out the hatred being spewed by angry white men. The worst of them is Bernie Sanders. I fully expect the blood vessels in his head to explode whenever he speaks. That is one ANGRY OLD WHITE MAN whose whiteness and anger should exclude him from holding public office, or really being able to even offer an opinion outside his home. A home which he stole, by the way, from someone who isn’t white.
I said basically the same thing Alison but mine wasn’t posted. To paraphrase “Apocalypse Now”, I love the smell of censorship in the morning. And I don’t support Trump either. But this is getting way out of hand in the divisive poltical rhetoric we have today. Trump wouldn’t even be a force today had the liberals chose real debate vs shutting down all forms of opinion except their own. People are tired of it. So in a way they caused trump to become the force of resonance of today. Certainly not a desire for white supremacy.
NOTE: Alison’s abusive comments have been deleted.