I’m greatly disappointed in the results of the election. Americans knowingly voted for a convicted felon who bullies , lies, cheats, defrauds, and steals. He bankrupted six businesses and cheated consumers, banks, and contractors. He jokes about sexually assaulting women. He insults and threatens those who disagree with him and seeks revenge against those who sought to hold him accountable for his crimes. This is the character of the person about to hold the highest office in our country for a second time and mark my words, nothing good will come from it. The world is dismayed that we elected such a despicable person.
The strange thing is that a number of otherwise decent human beings held their noses and voted for him anyway because the current system isn’t working for them. I’m speaking specifically about older white people and young white males. They understood that unless you were born into wealth or scored “the exceptional person lottery”, it was unlikely that they would reach the apex of success in this country. They were taught to greatly admire the rich and famous. America calls itself the land of opportunity, but really only those born into prominence or the exceptionally talented, intelligent, creative, energetic, and ambitious can become rich, famous, and powerful. The problem is that they were also taught this only applied to white people, specifically white men. They are bothered by the success of “others” and Trump smartly espoused the promise of lower food and gas prices along with safety from criminal migrants and WOKE ideas as a cover story to hide their true motives.
Americans not only idolize the rich, the famous, and the powerful; they aspire to be them! However, most will not become them. Most refuse to acknowledge the fine print of the promise of America. It clearly explains that white people by virtue of their whiteness get a head start. That males by virtue of their maleness get an additional head start. It explains that the wealthy and well-connected live by rules of their own making that will maintain their status and increase their wealth. It explains that women and persons of color will face explicit and unseen obstacles. It explains that only the smartest, the most creative, talented, energetic, and ambitious will be allowed to rise to the top. And only they should be admired.
What we are witnessing today is a rebellion against the system that finally allowed exceptional people of color and women to scale the American ladder based on exceptional merit. The prominence of these folks in the public eye is a concern to some white folks who never thought they would have to compete with so many “others”. The excellence of these newly successful individuals is undeniable, and yet they are not always admired, but often challenged and even threatened at every turn. Unprepared, grossly uneducated, and lacking resilience, average white people see themselves losing ground. These average white people feel left behind despite the head start they were given. They mistakenly believed that their head start was enough to guarantee their middle or upper class status. In their minds they were at least “better than them!” And they were proven wrong! They would never vote for a woman of color no matter her qualifications and no matter the awful alternative.
Of course they are insecure! Of course they need reassurance! But what they really need is for someone to finally tell them the truth that their whiteness does not make the better! In an effort to soothe their fragile white egos and explain their lost ground, Trump and Republicans attributed the success of these exceptional risers to DEI initiatives. It’s sad how easily insecure people choose to believe the lies that make them feel better about themselves. They believed Republicans will lift them up again. And then they voted accordingly. So here we are.
As Trump fills his cabinet with like-minded billionaires who play by different rules to increase their wealth and power at their expense, it will be interesting to see what they offer the insecure and uneducated white folks who put them in power. Who will fill the labor vacancies left by mass deportations? Who will pay for the tariffs? Who will suffer from environmental deregulations, the loss of health insurance, increased maternal deaths, and police brutality? Their hope is that people of color will suffer more than them. And in some cases, they will be right.
However, they fail to realize that they lack the resilience of people of color. They fail to realize that black women walked through the educational doors of opportunity in great numbers. Most of these white forks who voted for Trump lack the exceptional attributes to make them successful in a global economy. Their whiteness will no longer save them because employers will continue to fill positions with educated, creative, and highly skilled folks in order to innovate and to compete with the world. And the folks they hire are not likely to be undereducated insecure white males.