IT'S REALLY ASTOUNDING that people are still asking: How in the world did Donald Trump get elected president?
Back in 2015, this blog wrote:
I'll go one step further and be blunt, the key will be how white Americans learn to live, work and play with the new majority in the coming decades. Will they fight it as those who want to "take back America," or "Make America great again," or return to the "good, old days" when white was right and everyone else knew their place; or will they accept the new Americans' myriad contributions to the American way of life - in all aspects: economically, politically and culturally?
The answer came in November, 2016 when Trump scored a stunning upset in beating Hillary Clinton.
It wasn't the economy, stupid -- it was racism, xenophobia and the feeling of losing their status that drove so many white Americans to go against common sense and go with their anger that was fueled by their feeling of insecurity.
White working-class voters who reported feelings of cultural dislocation or favored deportation of illegal immigrants were more than three times more likely to support Trump, according to new analysis of a survey released last week by the Public Religions Research Institute with The Atlantic.
It wasn't the economy, stupid -- it was racism, xenophobia and the feeling of losing their status that drove so many white Americans to go against common sense and go with their anger that was fueled by their feeling of insecurity.
White working-class voters who reported feelings of cultural dislocation or favored deportation of illegal immigrants were more than three times more likely to support Trump, according to new analysis of a survey released last week by the Public Religions Research Institute with The Atlantic.
Titled Beyond Economics: Fears of Cultural Displacement Pushed the White Working Class to Trump concludes that it was cultural anxiety that drove white voters to vote for an inexperienced blowhard who seemingly lies with every other sentence. Their goal was to upset the applecart just for the sake of turning "the system" upside down., the very "system" that they believe had failed them.
Aside from Republican identity, cultural displacement and concerns about immigrants were the strongest independent predictors of presidential vote among white working-class voters. White working-class voters who say they often feel like a stranger in their own land and who believe the U.S. needs protecting against foreign influence were 3.5 times more likely to favor Trump than those who did not share these concerns. And white working-class voters who favored deporting immigrants living in the country illegally were 3.3 times more likely to express a preference for Trump than those who did not.
“These new results show that feelings of cultural displacement and a desire for cultural protection, more than economic hardship, drove white working-class voters to support Trump in 2016,” says PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. “The findings cast new light on how Trump’s ‘Make American Great Again!’ slogan tapped these fears and anxieties and a deep sense of nostalgia for a previous time in the country when white conservative Christians perceived that they had more power and influence.”
Compared to cultural factors, economic factors were less strong predictors of support for Trump. White working-class voters who reported feelings of economic fatalism—defined as those who believe that a college education is a risky gamble—were about twice as likely as those who believe college is a smart investment in the future to have favored Trump.
While that might not be news, the survey noted that white working-class voters who reported simply being in poor financial shape were nearly twice as likely as those who reported being in better financial shape to support Hillary Clinton.*
“White working-class Americans display a strong sense of economic fatalism, which influenced their vote choice in 2016,” says PRRI Research Director Dan Cox. “A majority of white working-class Americans believe that college education is more of a risk than an investment in the future, a view that is at odds not only with white college-educated Americans, but with black and Hispanic Americans as well. And white working-class voters who lost confidence in the education system as a path to upward mobility were much more likely to support Trump in the 2016 election.”
“When these voters hear messages from their president, they’re listening with ears attuned to cultural change and anxiety about America’s multicultural future,” writes The Atlantic‘s Emma Green, who analyzed the findings in a report in TheAtlantic.com.
Wave after wave after wave of immigration of people from around the worlld have left imprints on so-called American culture -- from pop music, dance, cuisine, philosophy and religious beliefs -- we can no longer make the blanket statement that "America" (with quotes) is as Eurocentric as Trump's supporters believe it to be.
“These new results show that feelings of cultural displacement and a desire for cultural protection, more than economic hardship, drove white working-class voters to support Trump in 2016,” says PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. “The findings cast new light on how Trump’s ‘Make American Great Again!’ slogan tapped these fears and anxieties and a deep sense of nostalgia for a previous time in the country when white conservative Christians perceived that they had more power and influence.”
Compared to cultural factors, economic factors were less strong predictors of support for Trump. White working-class voters who reported feelings of economic fatalism—defined as those who believe that a college education is a risky gamble—were about twice as likely as those who believe college is a smart investment in the future to have favored Trump.
While that might not be news, the survey noted that white working-class voters who reported simply being in poor financial shape were nearly twice as likely as those who reported being in better financial shape to support Hillary Clinton.*
“White working-class Americans display a strong sense of economic fatalism, which influenced their vote choice in 2016,” says PRRI Research Director Dan Cox. “A majority of white working-class Americans believe that college education is more of a risk than an investment in the future, a view that is at odds not only with white college-educated Americans, but with black and Hispanic Americans as well. And white working-class voters who lost confidence in the education system as a path to upward mobility were much more likely to support Trump in the 2016 election.”
“When these voters hear messages from their president, they’re listening with ears attuned to cultural change and anxiety about America’s multicultural future,” writes The Atlantic‘s Emma Green, who analyzed the findings in a report in TheAtlantic.com.
That anxiety was being fed not only by Trump's racist rhetoric, but news stories about the changing demographics of the U.S. largely fueled by new immigrants from Latin America and Asia and to a lesser degree, from Africa; and that by mid-century, whites would no longer be in a majority in the U.S. Whites were uncertain how they would be able to negotiate their way in this new cultural melieu. Getting knocked off their perch on the top, they were afraid of losing their inherited status and the assumed privileges that go along with being top dog.
More than six in ten (62 percent) white working-class Americans believe the growing number of newcomers from other countries threatens American culture, according to the survey. More than one in four (27 percent) say we should identify and deport illegal immigrants.
What should give hope to all of us is that these same people who supported Trump in the election, may be acting out of fear, but for the most part, they are more tolerant than believed -- or as Trump believes. Nearly six in ten (59 percent) white working-class Americans believe immigrants living in the country illegally should be allowed to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements, while 10 percent say they should be allowed to become permanent legal residents. Support for a path to citizenship is only slightly lower than support among the general public (63 percent).
How can we get those findings to the Republicans in Congress who have blocked bipartisan and realistic immigration reform -- not the backwards-looking proposals coming out of the White House.
The report also says more than two-thirds (68 percent) of white working-class Americans—along with a majority (55 percent) of the public overall—believe the U.S. is in danger of losing its culture and identity. Because of several factors, practices and racist assumptions, the definition and image of Americans throughout the world has been that of a white person. And -- for the most part -- all of us bought into that.
Among the other findings of the PRRI/Atlantic survey:
- Nostalgia for the 1950s. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the white working class believe American culture and way of life has deteriorated since the 1950s, compared to a majority (56 percent) of white college-educated Americans who say American culture and way of life has improved.
- A stranger in their own country. Nearly half (48 percent) of white working-class Americans agree, “Things have changed so much that I often feel like a stranger in my own country,” while 74 percent of white college-educated Americans reject this notion.
- Protection from foreign influence. Sixty-eight percent of white working-class Americans believe the American way of life needs to be protected from foreign influence. Fewer than half (44 percent) of white college-educated Americans express this view.
- Perceptions of “reverse discrimination.” More than half (52 percent) of white working-class Americans believe discrimination against whites has now become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities, while 70 percent of white college-educated Americans disagree.
- Financial shape. Fewer than four in ten of the white working class report they are in excellent (5 percent) or good (33 percent) shape financially, compared to six in ten who say they are in fair (35 percent) or poor shape (25 percent). White working-class Americans about as likely to say their financial situation has diminished (27 percent) as they are to say it has improved (29 percent). White college-educated Americans, in contrast, are about three times as likely to say their financial circumstances have gotten better than gotten worse (41 percent vs. 14 percent, respectively).
- Does college pay off? A majority (54 percent) of the white working class view getting a college education as a risky gamble, while only 44 percent say it is a smart investment.
- Rule-breaking leader.Six in ten (60 percent) white working-class Americans, compared to only 32 percent of white college-educated Americans say because things have gotten so far off track, we need a strong leader who is willing to break the rules.
- Restoring felony voting rights. More than seven in ten (71 percent) white working-class Americans and about three-quarters (74 percent) of the public overall agree a person who has been convicted of a felony should be allowed to vote after they have served their sentence.
- Substance abuse. Nearly four in ten (38 percent) white working-class Americans, compared to 26 percent of white college-educated Americans, say they or someone in their household has experienced depression in the last 12 months. Twelve percent of white working-class Americans report a family member has struggled with alcoholism, while a similar number (8 percent) say the same of drug addiction. Among white college-educated Americans, fewer say someone in their household has struggled with either alcoholism (9 percent) or drug addiction (3 percent).
- Drug treatment over jail time. Approximately seven in ten (71 percent) white working-class Americans and three-quarters (74 percent) of the public support a law mandating drug treatment instead of prison for those using illegal drugs on their first or second offense. More than eight in ten (82 percent) white college-educated Americans also support a treatment option over incarceration. Drug treatment is the preferred option among an overwhelming number of black (78 percent) and Hispanic (67 percent) Americans.
_____________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment