Trump Was Inevitable (Part 1)

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I don't mean inevitable as in we shouldn't be concerned, or that it was some kind of "manifest destiny" for Trump to be president -- that would imply that it was meant to happen (and also imply that fate is real, but that's another story). I just mean that, in retrospect, Trump becoming president was bound to happen because of the progress we've been making.

There's an odd phenomena when it comes to Americans and who we elect into office. We tend to flip-flop between parties trying to find something that "works" for us. If there were problems with a Republican president, we try out a Democratic president next, and vice versa. And even when there's nothing wrong with a party's presidency, we tend to get bored of having the same party in power. It's incredibly rare for any party to hold office past the eight year mark -- that's why we're incredibly lucky Obama scored two terms. 

Naturally, voters in this election were going to swing over to the Republican side. But that doesn't answer the question of why it was Trump's side that people turned to. There is no easy answer, but I think a lot of it has to do with all of the bigotry exposed during Obama's presidency.

I'd highly recommend anyone watch Samantha Bee's "Disturbing the PC" to know what I'm talking about. Her crew interviews some Trump supporters and when asked why they like Trump, one lady admits that Trump is saying what all of them are afraid to say because of "political correctness". Trump is expressing their beliefs and validating them instead of dismissing them for being incredibly toxic and often just flat-out wrong.

The idea that Trump has "created" a new surge of hatred and ignorance in America is a lie. Trump didn't "create" anything, he's only taking advantage of the victimization complex that people -- mostly white cisgender men -- have created for themselves. Having a black president was like a wake-up call to all the racists because for the first time, a black man was in charge of the entire country. And that scared them. 

And when I say racists, I'm not talking about white supremacists who support segregation or KKK members. I'm talking about your "average" white person, usually the ones who swear up and down that they're not racist because [insert faulty reasoning here]. I'm talking about people who may be the nicest people on Earth and who could be anyone from an elderly veteran to a progressive college student. Because the myth that racism only exists in the South or is only perpetuated by older generations is just that -- a myth.

So, with a black man in power, and a progressive one no less, people flipped. They dug up everything they could possibly criticize him on and when there was nothing to blame him for, they invented stories of their own. To Republicans, he was a controlling dictator communist who was going to ban guns and force rich people to give up all their money. And to Democrats, he was a wimp afraid to push for stronger reform and always caved in to Republicans. Either way, he was the universal scapegoat that everyone could point fingers at, resulting in the popular satirical phrase "thanks Obama". 

Both portrayals of him were inaccurate and despite how everyone made it seem like Obama achieved nothing, we've actually gotten a lot done under his administration. I won't get into everything, but the Washington Monthly has a great summary of Obama's top 50 accomplishments. And yes, people might question whether some of these are truly accomplishments or not, but I'd say there's a good amount on here most of us can agree on. Ending the war in Iraq? Hell yeah. Eliminating Osama bin Laden? Definitely. And repealing "Don't ask, don't tell"? Absolutely!

So, now we come to our main problem, which is that with any kind of progress, there's going to be backlash. Why? Because of fear. Most people are afraid of change, especially when they're privileged and feel like their "rights" are being threatened.

In 1868, black men had finally been promised full citizenship and equal legal protection thanks to Amendment XIV. Even when the South returned to local white rule ten years later, there were a lot of changes being made in the right direction. I'd suggest reading "A Brief History of Jim Crow" if you can. T. McCants Stewart, who was a black journalist during this time, said he was pretty impressed by the presence of black cops and casual conversation between white and black strangers. He thought that America was finally moving forward -- only for it to take a giant leap back when the Jim Crow laws were enacted.

In a similar vein, the whole anti-abortion movement was created to try and suppress the push for suffrage and birth control. You hardly see anything condemning abortion in ancient history, and the Bible doesn't even specifically mention abortion. Abortion was practiced until the 19th century, when women were starting to gain ground in their fight for equality. Outlawing abortion was just a way to try and control anyone with a uterus and ensure that women would have to give birth and become mothers, limiting their chances of entering the workforce and also limiting their chances of being independent if they had to rely on the father for child support (and get married, if that's what their religion commanded).

Considering all of this, I think it was only a matter of time before, once again, people do everything they can to keep their privilege. And Trump is the definition of privilege -- a rich, white, cisgender male who has the privilege of being ignorant and gets people to believe they're the victims by blaming all of America's problems on the victims themselves.

But aside from the voters themselves, I have to point fingers at the media and the role it played in the unfavorable outcome of this election. And that, theoretical reader, will be discussed in part two. Normally I'd end this with questions, but I'll save those for last.