American Apartheid: How and why the far-right wants to undermine democracy in America to disproportionately benefit white conservatives
Barack Obama, who served two consecutive terms as President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, warned in his farewell address that democracy in the United States was threatened, by, among other things, "demographic change":
It is inherently clear that white conservatives fear that they are slowly losing political power in this country as America becomes more ethnically diverse and as white people become an increasingly smaller percentage of the total American population. It is important to note that not all white people are conservative, although a majority of white people voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Because white conservatives view democracy as a threat to their political power, the far-right in this country has increasingly supported discriminatory policies and policy proposals, as well as openly supported far-right authoritarian leaders like Donald Trump.
Since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, America has always been a flawed democracy. For much of its history, women and people of color were denied the right to vote, and gerrymandering legislative districts in the United States pre-dates the invention of the word "gerrymandering". In the past century, women have been granted the right to vote, Native Americans who were born in the United States have been granted U.S. citizenship, people of color have become able to exercise their right to vote, and some, but not all, states have enacted redistricting policies that are partially or entirely independent of state legislatures. However, the far-right in today's America wants to turn back a lot of the progress that America has made towards becoming a true functioning democracy.
The link between Donald Trump's racist authoritarianism and the opposition to democracy by his supporters is extremely strong. For example, a major reason why Trump's supporters have openly supported his anti-immigration policies is because they believe that, if immigration to the United States is permitted, once immigrants become U.S. citizens, they would be expected to vote against fascist-minded politicians like Trump and for left-leaning or left-wing political candidates.
America's political system has long disproportionately favored white people and conservatives relative to their percentages of the total American population. For example, the Electoral College that is officially responsible for electing the president and the vice president was originally created to protect the political power of states where slavery was legal and popularly supported prior to the 13th Amendment that banned slavery being ratified, and it is not uncommon for people of color in the United States to be given harsher sentences than white people for the same or similar crimes. However, it is inherently clear that Donald Trump and his far-right Republican allies view democracy and equality under the law as a threat to the political power of white conservatives, and they support a concept of American Apartheid, where government policy is designed to weaken the political power of people of color and left-leaning Americans and strengthen the political power of white people and right-leaning Americans so that white people and right-leaning Americans have more political power than their percentages of the total American population, and authoritarian rule is used in an attempt to quash political dissent, accountability, and the rule of law. I absolutely oppose the far-right's vision for American Apartheid, because I believe that equal protection under the law should be a core American value.
That's what I want to focus on tonight: The state of our democracy. Understand, democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders argued. They quarreled. Eventually they compromised. They expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity — the idea that for all our outward differences, we're all in this together; that we rise or fall as one. (Applause.)Obama's warning about the future of democracy in America certainly had merit to it. A little over a month ago, NBC News published this piece, written by freelance writer Noah Berlatsky, about an academic study by political scientists Steven V. Miller and Nicholas T. Davis on how intolerance by white Americans is threatening democracy. Berlatsky noted in his piece how President Donald Trump's bigotry and authoritarianism are intertwined and how bigotry has led to white Americans viewing democracy as a threat to the political power of white people:
There have been moments throughout our history that threatens that solidarity. And the beginning of this century has been one of those times. A shrinking world, growing inequality; demographic change and the specter of terrorism — these forces haven't just tested our security and our prosperity, but are testing our democracy, as well. And how we meet these challenges to our democracy will determine our ability to educate our kids, and create good jobs, and protect our homeland. In other words, it will determine our future.
A new study, however, suggests that the main threat to our democracy may not be the hardening of political ideology, but rather the hardening of one particular political ideology. Political scientists Steven V. Miller of Clemson and Nicholas T. Davis of Texas A&M have released a working paper titled "White Outgroup Intolerance and Declining Support for American Democracy." Their study finds a correlation between white American's intolerance, and support for authoritarian rule. In other words, when intolerant white people fear democracy may benefit marginalized people, they abandon their commitment to democracy.It is important to note that white people are not currently a minority in the United States, but white men are a minority in the United States. Based on 2017 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, a large majority (76.9%) of Americans are white, although a narrow majority (50.8%) of all Americans are female, and only 11 states, which account for less than 10 percent of America's total population combined, have more men than women.
Miller and Davis used information from the World Values Survey, a research project organized by a worldwide network of social scientists which polls individuals in numerous countries on a wide range of beliefs and values. Based on surveys from the United States, the authors found that white people who did not want to have immigrants or people of different races living next door to them were more likely to be supportive of authoritarianism. For instance, people who said they did not want to live next door to immigrants or to people of another race were more supportive of the idea of military rule, or of a strongman-type leader who could ignore legislatures and election results.
The World Values Survey data used is from the period 1995 to 2011 — well before Donald Trump's 2016 run for president. It suggests, though, that Trump's bigotry and his authoritarianism are not separate problems, but are intertwined. When Trump calls Mexicans "rapists," and when he praises authoritarian leaders, he is appealing to the same voters.
It is inherently clear that white conservatives fear that they are slowly losing political power in this country as America becomes more ethnically diverse and as white people become an increasingly smaller percentage of the total American population. It is important to note that not all white people are conservative, although a majority of white people voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Because white conservatives view democracy as a threat to their political power, the far-right in this country has increasingly supported discriminatory policies and policy proposals, as well as openly supported far-right authoritarian leaders like Donald Trump.
Since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, America has always been a flawed democracy. For much of its history, women and people of color were denied the right to vote, and gerrymandering legislative districts in the United States pre-dates the invention of the word "gerrymandering". In the past century, women have been granted the right to vote, Native Americans who were born in the United States have been granted U.S. citizenship, people of color have become able to exercise their right to vote, and some, but not all, states have enacted redistricting policies that are partially or entirely independent of state legislatures. However, the far-right in today's America wants to turn back a lot of the progress that America has made towards becoming a true functioning democracy.
The link between Donald Trump's racist authoritarianism and the opposition to democracy by his supporters is extremely strong. For example, a major reason why Trump's supporters have openly supported his anti-immigration policies is because they believe that, if immigration to the United States is permitted, once immigrants become U.S. citizens, they would be expected to vote against fascist-minded politicians like Trump and for left-leaning or left-wing political candidates.
America's political system has long disproportionately favored white people and conservatives relative to their percentages of the total American population. For example, the Electoral College that is officially responsible for electing the president and the vice president was originally created to protect the political power of states where slavery was legal and popularly supported prior to the 13th Amendment that banned slavery being ratified, and it is not uncommon for people of color in the United States to be given harsher sentences than white people for the same or similar crimes. However, it is inherently clear that Donald Trump and his far-right Republican allies view democracy and equality under the law as a threat to the political power of white conservatives, and they support a concept of American Apartheid, where government policy is designed to weaken the political power of people of color and left-leaning Americans and strengthen the political power of white people and right-leaning Americans so that white people and right-leaning Americans have more political power than their percentages of the total American population, and authoritarian rule is used in an attempt to quash political dissent, accountability, and the rule of law. I absolutely oppose the far-right's vision for American Apartheid, because I believe that equal protection under the law should be a core American value.
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