There are various reasons why many poor whites support Donald Trump and the Right Wing. It is not as simple as just racism or fear. There is a perfect narrative that the Right Wing has honed in on that explains the pathology. The thing is countering that narrative is not difficult once one earns their trust. Progressives can reach these people. How do I know? Even as a black man who many of them fear, I have been able to entertain conversations with positive outcomes. PLEASE watch the entire video.
The pathology of poor whites voting against themselves
Progressives can be a positive force in solving the pathology of poor whites voting against their interest — the thing is, it’s not that difficult. It requires humility and listening. I was disappointed right after the overt racist Cindy Hyde-Smith won to become Mississippi Senator.
It is foolhardy to believe that a woman who overtly supported voter suppression, joked about sitting in the front row to a lynching, and takes a picture with Confederate objects claiming it was Mississippi at its best becoming U.S. Senator is a Southern or Mississippi phenomena and not a deeper national problem. We owe Donald Trump a huge thank you. He has forced the country to realize that beneath that smooth, healthy-looking skin this presumed melting pot had become, is an infected foul, diseased flesh. Let’s rip the skin/scab off completely, disinfect the wound, and get on a regiment of a potent broad-spectrum antibiotic.
It is more about the electors than the elected. Remember that most politicians are empty suits catering to what they believe people want to hear. I hope we concentrate on the masses and not the empty vessels.
Yes, there are some leaders like Trump, who trigger, but it’s the people that must be changed, given a sense of morality and more. We get some of the worst instincts of people who are zombied to the church. Having faith can be good but it can also be detrimental, and indirectly that is what is happening. A continually immoral church gives standing to the behavior because the ill-informed pew believes they are justified for their vote.
But it is even more than that as I explained in the video. It has to do with how you address the convenient boogie person and why it works. Once, we make the case that the masses, all, are in the same boat, and we start doing more listening and framing our message to their needs, success is plausible.
Watch the entire Politics Done Right episode here.