From a Rust Belt intellectual: Trump’s election is not about hate (at least not the way you think)

I grew up in the Rust Belt. In my formative years, my town and many others around it, once full of life and work and all things American, were devastated by the loss of both white and blue collar industrial jobs. My father owned a car dealership that failed and he had to go back to school. Even though the seeds were sown in the prior decades, the final blows that decimated the once prolific Middle Class (both Black and White people, by the way) in the Rust Belt occurred in the 1990’s. So it is no surprise to me that my fellow belters deeply resisted another Clinton presidency. Now, our towns are a shell of their former glory. Schools are closing. Malls are empty. Downtowns look abandoned. Brain drain has sapped the entire region of the young ambitious students who graduate from the many legendary universities that still thrive there. I got out as soon as I could. There weren’t many opportunities.

It’s also not a surprise to me that Trump was elected president this week. Based on his “Made in America” rhetoric, it is a completely logical outcome for that swing-state region of the country. We say, “So what? Trump and his supporters are evil xenophobic racists and I cannot tolerate that.” Not all, or even most of them. Raging racist followers aside, his message resonates with people who have been watching their area decline for 30 years, people who have not had the time or resources for “lifelong learning” to develop a new skill. Or maybe they love their home, culture, family and traditions, so they don’t want to move to the new centers of economic boom along our three coasts. They have a right to stay if they choose, and they want it to be great again.

It’s reasonable for them to expect that in America, richest country on earth, the Land of Opportunity, they should be getting more.

A little history lesson: rich landowners and entrepreneurs used racial division during our nation’s early years and the subsequent industrial revolution to quell the tendency of poor workers/ slaves/indentured servants/sharecroppers to band together to fight for their working conditions and a living wage. If everyone came together, the wealthy elite would be powerless and at the mercy of the masses. The idea was to create a White superiority complex to keep workers from unifying as doing so would reduce overall profitability. This is also why labor unions are so vilified in the business community — they reduce efficiency and profitability.

We have to remember that racism (with its predecessor, slavery) is a construct to maintain an economic system. It’s a business decision.

So it became, “You’re not poor like them [insert your favorite ethnic minority or vulnerable population]; you’re better because you’re White like us, and if you work hard enough, you can be filthy rich like us too” (though that was and is completely unattainable for most). The entire construct of racism is a distraction to keep the masses occupied with fear mongering and hatred, so they do not focus on real inequality and the jealousy that results, fueling disgust and contempt for the elite. Now it’s just baked into our culture from years of reinforcement.

Extreme wealth cannot exist without extreme poverty, and it isn’t fair. Injustice and oppression keep some humans in extreme poverty, while propping up others with wealth. I’m not all Commie, and I understand that this system works for America because most of us are comfortable. But that comfort costs us something.

We don’t think about it now because most of us are comfortable enough. We accept and respect, even admire, the extreme wealth of the few as an inspiration to keep us going. But even among Whites there has been discrimination against every new ethnic group that has emigrated here— Dutch and British against Germans, then against Irish, then Polish, Italian, Chinese and so on. People perceive that newcomers will mean less is available for the rest of us. And sometimes, that’s true. But it’s not really about white black and brown — it’s about GREEN.

It is economically profitable to keep people divided. Period.

We must understand that we endure the uncomfortable prejudices and fear mongering in this nation because it affords us economic comfort and spurs our self determination to live free or die. And many Whites have had the privilege to turn a blind eye because they are no longer the target. Blacks and other minorities do not get that privilege, yet we benefit economically from the system too. Very few of us are starving, homeless, and destitute.

Our world is flawed. The Bible tells us that. We can clearly see it everywhere. Our lives on Earth are a series of continual trade offs until our expiration date. That’s why I’m looking forward to Heaven.

When it boils down to it, the love of money and the insatiable thirst for power are at the root of our division. Every single one of us has a self serving, wicked heart; only turning to our Faith will change it.