Our New Civil War And Jim Crow

The ascendancy of Donald Trump and his overt xenophobia, racism, white nationalism, and outright cruelty gave license to a broad swath of Americans to act out in the same way. Trump verbalized and normalized the beliefs and feelings that many Americans apparently had held for years but had suppressed because of our societal norms. And, for many, it was a bonding experience to know others felt the same way and were now ready to act on those beliefs. As Adam Serwer wrote in 2018, “It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear…It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united”. Trump made them feel powerful, perhaps for the first time in decades.

From the very start, Trump was not leading a political campaign per se, but a war on democracy itself. By definition, his opponents were illegitimate. Ted Cruz was ineligible for the presidency because he had been born in Canada. Hillary Clinton needed to be “locked up”. If he lost a primary or an election, it was “rigged”; if he won, it was “a beautiful thing”. The media was “an enemy of the people”. And calls to violence were an integral part of his pitch. He directed his supporters to “knock the crap out” of those who protested, even offering to pay their legal fees. He celebrated violence against the…