Trump Takes My Hometown
My home town is ugly. The primary color palette of Friendswood, Texas, is concrete-grey with brushings of asphalt-black. The neighborhood I grew up is all medians, gross, man-made lakes and occasional trees, trying desperately to cover up the sense of melting tar. Yet the neighbors always walked. Even through 90-degree heat with 90 percent humidity the elderly Muslim couple across the street walked. I didn’t see what they got out of it, but they found some sort of calming ritual in the dusk hours as the cicadas screeched. I don’t know if they go out for strolls anymore, not since the freshly moved-in neighbors put up a Trump sign.
I don’t know much about the Trump family. They’re white (like 90% of Friendswood’s population), have two daughters and are probably middle to upper middle class. Friendswood is known for a good school system, a Stepford Wives-ish vibe (at least from my view) and a mean income higher than most of the cities around it. And it’s the people of Friendswood who are Trump’s biggest supporters. Time and time again I’ve seen articles about run down whites living in rural areas serving as the backbone of Trump’s support, but those folks support Clinton or Bernie just as much or more than Trump. It’s not economic anxiety, it’s racial and sexist anxiety that pushes a wide swath of white, middle class folks to support Trump.
Vox did a great article over the history of racial anxiety and resentment, but I’ve got a bit of anecdotal evidence from Friendswood to shine some light on the mindset of middle-class Trumpers. Back when I was in Jr. High, an acquaintance of mine, who was from a Muslim-Pakistani family, was thrown in a trash can by some white bullies. I never got the full story on why, I’m sure 9/11 was invoked at some point, but the principal of my school got rightfully angry and spooked. She called an all school assembly that took the students out of gym class (so I was already on board). Members of a local mosque spoke about religious tolerance and the history of Islam to us. It was tame, polite and not much different from the uber-liberal teachings I got from my own Universal Unitarian church Sundays.
The parents of Friendswood had her fired.
A flood of complaints from local worryworts came in, demanding her resignation. The more reasonable parents (and kids) went to a school board meeting to discuss the event. Only one parent spoke against the assembly at that meeting; the grand majority of Friendswood adults who felt uncomfortable were content to remain unseen. Even with a growth of public support she was removed from her post, replaced by some middle aged white dude.
Mind you, these were the same parents that complained to the high school when kids were skipping class to play in the first snow Friendswood had in five years. They’re generally NO FUN, but this event keeps coming to my mind during this election. Sure there are plenty of alt-right bros and Fox News Friends who are happy to regurgitate Trump’s vile lines, but a sizable portion of his base are hiding, content with an occasional Facebook post calling Hillary crooked or putting up a sign in their yard. They probably won’t burn down a building when Hillary wins, they probably won’t directly threaten a black couple in their neighborhood, they probably will go about their lives after the election like nothing changed. Because everything else isn’t subtle enough. This line of Trump supporters prefer to work through schools, council meetings and nasty emails, bending communities to be more conservative and white.
And I’m seeing it appear in the classmates that graduated alongside or near me. An acquaintance of mine recently wrote a post titled something along the lines of “I’m a feminist voting for Trump.” Two other people I knew from my high school days (both dudes) are supporting Trump solely on the fact that he will restrict abortion laws, or even overturn Roe V Wade.
I’ll put money down that 80% of my high school peers will vote for Trump. Because they’ve been taught and inoculated that white patriarchy isn’t just the norm, but the gold standard. Because the upper-middle class utopia of Friendswood, Texas, is what they want the entirety of the United States to be. That vision. Where people of color don’t exist or are stamped down, where white women are put in their place, but receive benefits from the patriarchy, where everyone applies to the laws of a narrowly defined (and white) view of Christianity. Above all, this is why I’m voting for Clinton. I can’t imagine a worse hell.
