Another Whitelash Election

Even with high turnout, endorsements from top Republicans and former Trump aides, and outspending the Trump-Vance ticket by nearly $460 million, Democrats still lost the White House, as well as both Houses of Congress.

What happened?

Many are speculating what Democrats could have done differently. Some political pundits blame Joe Biden for not stepping down sooner, while others blame the party for not having an official primary.

Those things all contributed, of course. But the most important reason is simpler: Donald Trump won by turning people against each other instead of the real enemies: price gouging corporations, greedy CEOs, polluters, and so on.

He exploited fears among white conservatives toward immigrants by evoking language Adolf Hitler used against Jews during the Holocaust. Like American fascists in the 1930s, Trump even hosted a closing rally at Madison Square Garden where he doubled down on the divisive rhetoric that colored his campaign.

As I listen to pundits praise Trump’s ability to appeal to the working class, I’m perplexed that no one is sounding the alarm as to why he was so convincing.

Polls indicate that the number one issue among voters was “the economy.” But despite inflation and other valid concerns, even The Economist — no one’s idea of a leftist publication — reported that Trump will inherit a “solid economy” when he takes office.

I would argue that the real culprit was racial division. As Ibram X. Kendi, a historian and best-selling author, argued when Trump first won in 2016, “our leaders continue to refuse to recognize racism as a decisive factor in this election.”

The people Trump demeaned most on the campaign trail — including Latin and Hispanic Americans, Black Americans, and other people of color — will make up the majority of our electorate in the coming decades. It’s estimated that less than half of Americans will be white by 2045, at which point no one racial group will be demographically dominant.

There’s been a lot of research suggesting that this diminishing majority is generating discomfort and changing how people especially vote — especially white people, although not only them.

Isabel Wilkerson wrote about this in her book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent. She identified a hidden American caste system that’s kept white people at the top of an “artificial hierarchy,” with access to certain privileges regardless of their income and education.

When asked why this election was so close in a recent interview, Wilkerson responded that white Americans were not voting for their best economic interest in the usual sense, but to “maintain their position in the American caste system.”

Wilkerson’s book also discussed how minority groups have historically strived to “assimilate” in order rise to the top of this artificial hierarchy. This could explain why some Black and Latino men voted for Trump at higher rates than before, too.

Still, what we saw in this election was a form of “whitelash” — a protest vote against the changing make-up of our country.

But if we ever want a true multiracial democracy that delivers for all of us, we must not only address the grievances of all Americans (including whites!), but also elect leaders who will represent all of us, too — regardless of our skin color, gender, sexual orientation, or zip code.