Now that Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, the question has shifted from ‘How he could ever be president?’ to ‘What happened?’
To explain how Trump rose from the “most unlikely” to the “most likely,” many pundits have pointed to his brash, unapologetic declarations that stoked fires of intolerance. Whether by design or happenstance, his pronouncements and subtle slights against minorities, have, in the recent words of former President Jimmy Carter, “tapped a waiting reservoir of inherent racism.”
This game of identity-based divide and conquer is nothing new. In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon, a white former bonded laborer, led a rebellion of nearly 500 white indentured servants and African slaves against Virginia’s ruling class. Along with other issues, the elite were dismissive of the cruel treatment toward bonded labor.
According to historians, although Bacon’s Rebellion was quickly foiled, the leaders of Virginia created a legal racial caste system in which poor whites were extended more privileges and access than their African counterparts, ultimately uncoupling their economic and social interests. Simply put, it became better to be white and poor than African.
Trump’s divisive rhetoric reflects the “divide and conquer” strategy that has been a successful Republican strategy in many historic elections, most notably 1968, 1980 and 1988. (Google Lee Atwater and the Southern Strategy for more information).
There is truth in the maxim, “United we stand; divided we fall.” Unless the American middle and working classes stand together, abandon identity politics, and form a coalition based on economic interests and building bridges across communities, we will continue to be pawns of the elite and fall for anything.
I am Joseph Flynn, and that is my perspective.
