Patriarchal White Supremacy Were On The Ballot

Guess Who Won?

“Hope is invented every day.” James Baldwin (unsplash free images)

This election was indeed a gut-punch to those of us who were so optimistic and hopeful about the election of Kamala Harris to be the first woman of color as President in our history. I’ll be the first to admit that my optimism was unfounded and wrong. I invented hope as we neared election day despite the doubts. In the final days of the campaign, hopefulness began commandeering the train in a direction that came to a destination we didn’t foresee. It was devastating.

In an earlier aticle on this newsletter, I described this election as a transformational opportunity to turn a new direction…away from white supremacy and the white male patriarchy that it serves. (White Supremacy Is On The Ballot) Americans chose unwisely and embraced the centuries old ideology that has governed our society. It reminds me of an Old Testament verse: "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly" from Proverbs 26:11. (Sorry for the crass analogy, but it what came to mind.)

It has taken me several days to process what has happened and to come to terms with the reality that we will be faced with the abuse of Donald Trump upon our country for the next four years. I use the word “abuse” deliberately, because my initial thoughts about why so many of my fellow citizens felt that Trump was the right choice reminded me of a person in an abusive relationship who continually returns to the abusing partner. The abuser never changes of course, and the abuse simply continues and intensifies. It appears to me that a large swath of the American public hasn’t gotten enough of Donald’s narcissistic abuse so they brought him back for more. It reflects the worst aspects of a co-dependent relationship.

I won’t try and analyze the election results which show that Trump did NOT expand his base in any way. It is essentially the same numbers who voted for him in 2020. What changed of course was the turnout on the Democratic side. Pollsters and politicos will be trying to figure that out for the next four years.

I have my own theory about why the turnout for Harris was so low. I don’t have the empirical evidence…yet. But I think this is as valid a theory as anything.

Just like in 2016, many voters were not ready to vote for a woman in 2024.

Thank patriarchal ideology. And in the case of Kamala Harris, a woman of color, you can thank white supremacy. I believed before the election and even more now, that white supremacy was on the ballot. Yes, I am saying that at least part of the reason Harris lost this election was due to nothing she did wrong…it was racism and sexism. Even many Democrats are not immune to the poison of these two monsters. Just ask Hillary Clinton.

The United States is a nation founded on and steeped in white supremacy and patriarchy. Our nation’s past is littered with the debris of the impact of those two hateful ideologies. And they persist.

White elite men have manipulated and exploited populations of people through a divide and conquer strategy generation after generation. It is a tried and true tactic to instill fear, hierarchy, and division between the lower classes, turn them against each other and against other races so that the boys at the top can remain in power and remain extremely rich.

Just like the rich white tobacco planters in colonial Virigina in the 17th century created racial categories and definitions for the first time in our history, and pitted poor whites and Blacks against each other, so do the likes of today’s oligarchs such as Trump, Musk, Thiel and many others, sow the seeds of division among the working classes through outright hatred of the “other” and fear. It allows them to pull out victories to sustain their power and position.

And in the end, it is the working class MAGA supporters who are fooled, and will not benefit from a second Trump Presidency. No one will, except the white elite males. That is how it has worked for centuries.

The Trump train’s slogans this time around were clearly designed to divide Americans of the lower working classes:

Immigrants are vermin

Liberals are evil communists

Immigrants are poisoning the “blood of our country”

Liberals hate America and will destroy Christianity

“I will protect women whether they want me to or not”

Harris is a b—tch, and Harris is trash

Immigrants are eating the pets

Women should vote the same as their husbands

And low-information voters bought the propaganda hook, line and sinker. Trump just had to reel them in and poof…he becomes President of the United States. And all his legal woes just vanished like a fart in the wind. No accountability and no rule of law.

The underlying ideology in all of these attacks are the prevailing white supremacy and patriarchy that has been the driver of this country for centuries. It is a hard project to give up, and the elite know that they can use this cultural framework strategy to pit people not only against each other but against their own best interests.

And the results of this hateful ideology is beginning to be seen already throughout the country as loyal Trump minions begin to bully and harass marginalized groups of people, copying the worst of Trump’s behavior. You can’t expect Trump’s hateful ideology to not have consequences.

Here are just a few examples that are happening right now less than a week after the election:

• Right here in my “nice” state of Iowa, a gay teacher in an unnamed High School was harassed by a group of students within 48 hours after Trump was declared the winner of the election. Here is the verbatim quote as reported by the teacher: “Good luck with your gay marriage now that Trump is back. See ya homos and trans people.”

• Some area schools have reported that students are talking at lunch about which Latino students will get deported. Some are worried and some can’t wait to see it happen.

• LGBTQ and trans folks in Des Moines have reported being harrassed by passing “MAGA” cars filled with people yelling at them and bullying them. This is in addition to the usual bullying gay people receive.

• Then there are the guys going around eyeing pretty girls now and telling them, “Your body, My Choice.”

I expect these types of immature and insensitive comments and harassments to continue. They will grow just as they have been since 2016. They will escalate and result in violence and physical attacks in the coming four years if those at the top do not provide shame and condemnation for such acts. They won’t.

When the person at the top of the political food-chain gives voice to white supremacy, patriarchy, and sexism, that becomes a green-light and a dog whistle for millions of people who might otherwise keep their mouths shut and their hands to themselves. “If Donald says it’s okay, then I can do it too.”

It is example that speaks louder than words. America has elevated a man who is proven sexual predator, a convicted business fraud, and insurrectionist to the highest office in the land. Guess what young men learn from that example? You can grab women by their p—y at will, pay porn stars and models for sex, and even break the law, try to overturn a certified election with violence, and become President of the United States.

That is the “Make America Great Again” agenda: white supremacy and sexist behavior.

Then there is the gaslighting from the loyal MAGA crowd who are now saying “its time to unify, can’t we all just be friends?” Everyone knows they would never be saying such a thing if Trump had lost the election. They would be throwing childish tantrums, denying reality, and filing lawsuits.

But here is a news flash. The Harris’ campaign was speaking of coming together and unifying for months BEFORE THE ELECTION. In other words, guess who was sincere about unifying? It wasn’t MAGA.

Besides, I’m sorry Mr. MAGA, I will not be unifying around your white supremacist agenda and stand by while Trump abuses and fleeces the country by dismantling the state and deports 11 million people. Sorry, there is no unity in that agenda. There is no unity around depriving women of basic human rights to bodily autonomy, something that the patriarchal MAGA oligarchs would never stand for if their bodily autonomy were threatened.

It is pure gaslighting. So to my friends and family….just stop the gaslighting. Yes, I’ve gotten the unsolicited, gaslighting emails from my family. They too are following the example of their adored MAGA leader who tweets harassment and threats constantly against his perceived enemies. I bet you’ve gotten similar emails from friends or family gaslighting you about “come together to unify” and telling you that “the whole nation supports Trump now” ….they do not. Not by a long shot.

I will never unify around the ideology of white supremacy and patriarchy…these ideas have caused too much pain, death, destruction, exploitation, genocide and misery for millions of people. There can never be unity around such destructive ideologies. And I will fight against them with all the might and the remaining days I have.

I’ve been asked, “Do you still have hope?” My only reaction is to remember the words of James Baldwin who said in response to a similar question:

“Hope is invented every day.”

Indeed, every day that I awake, I will reinvent hope. The alternative is too awful to even imagine.