Friday, November 18, 2016

The Post-Election Anger



I understand the anger of those who lost.  The results had not been predicted, the winner didn't only campaigned on economic policies which struck a chord, but also on racism, white supremacy and misogyny, and those, too, struck a chord or at least didn't matter enough for many who voted for Trump.  The new America that is being created is not going to be a country of equal opportunities for all.  After all, Stephen Bannon is its head strategist.

What I don't understand is the continuing anger of those who won, especially the radical extremist wing of the Trumpeteers.  Yet there are many examples of that anger, from the attacks against minorities and women on the streets to the Starbuck protests and plans to boycott firms such as Pepsi, because of this:

 PepsiCo garnered their wrath last week when CEO Indra Nooyi talked about the election in an interview with the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin at a conference on Thursday. “They are all in mourning,” she said of her daughters and employees. “Our employees are all crying. And the question that they’re asking, especially those who are not white: ‘Are we safe?’ Women are asking: ‘Are we safe?’ LGBT people are asking: ‘Are we safe?’ I never thought I’d have had to answer those questions.”

These comments were unacceptable to the radical extremist Trumpeteers.

Just think of that for a moment.  Rather than reassuring all of us who belong to the groups (which together constitute the majority) Trump kept Othering all through his campaign, those Others should now do what?  Shut up?  Submit?

What would a mature leader do in this situation?  Let me think.  How about giving a speech telling his supporters to stop the harassment and slurs?  How about reassuring people who have been Othered that they are going to be safe?

Donald Trump may be mature in age, but he is certainly extremely immature as a statesman.  Indeed, he is doing very little to rein in the white male supremacist wing of his coalition.  I doubt he cares, to be quite honest, because this is not about accolades and people cheering him.