Many of us know that Donald Trump was not worthy or capable of assuming any position of public trust, so we should not be surprised about how this turned out. What did surprise some was the degree to which nearly half all Americans are so deeply vested in their whiteness or proximity to whiteness.
One of the most honest and truthful statements ever made about our country was said by President Lyndon B. Johnson when he said, “If you can convince the lowest white man, he’s better than the best colored, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” Unfortunately, studies have shown that large numbers of white Americans will oppose initiatives and programs that would help them if Black people or “Others” would benefit from these programs (Wetts, Rachel and Robb Willer. 2018. “Privilege on the Precipice: Perceived Racial Status Threats Lead White Americans to Oppose Welfare Programs.” Social Forces 97(2): 793-822.)
Why More White Americans Are Opposing Government Welfare Programs – Robert Willer and Rachel Wetts). This is not a new phenomenon. The principle that I am white and, therefore, better based on my skin’s paleness is a bedrock principle of our society, and the battles to change this have been ongoing for centuries.
From the first recorded slave revolt in 1663 to the Black Lives Matter movement. Black people have placed their lives on the line to demand recognition of their humanity and the inalienable rights inherent to that humanity. The struggle continues but so do efforts to thwart efforts to make the Constitution more than profound declarations of principles and platitudes written on parchment.
On the other side of this battle, we have institutions that, at their core, the primary goal of protecting whiteness and, even more distinctly, white wealth, power, and privilege. These institutions have made the explicit and implicit promise to white Americans, “By the power vested in me, your place in our social structure will never sink to a level beneath the level of the most revered and successful Black person.” To the detriment of our nation, an overwhelming majority of white people have enthusiastically or tacitly endorsed this pact.
I cannot count the number of times my parents would tell me, in reverential tones, “You need to be ten times better to get ten percent of what white folks got.” Can I get an amen? This truism is shared with young Black boys and girls at least as often as “The Talk” about dealing with law enforcement.
Donald Trump is the Avatar for this power structure based on white supremacy and privilege. We didn’t have to wait and see how he would perform in the role of “The Most Powerful Man in The World.” Everything about his life and his lack of character told us his tenure would be an existential threat to our nation. Yet all the institutions celebrated for being the safeguards for our democracy consciously paved the way for him to take the reins of a nation that preaches about “American Exceptionalism.” I would have to include an additional paragraph to document all of the negative “isms” attributable to Donald Trump. I will instead settle on describing him as a despicable and incompetent human being. He has been a failure as a businessman and, more importantly, as a human being, yet he was elected to become President. How in the world could this happen is the question many of us asked? The primary reason, Donald Trump promised to promote the primacy of whiteness, unabashedly and too many white people said, count me in, again.
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