Angry White Men

What they say … and what I hear.

Over the past eight years, I have heard a lot of Republicans decrying the fact that President Obama hasn’t improved race relations in this country.  Those voices are even louder this year.  I certainly was one who hoped, when he was elected, that we were moving into a new and improved era of racial justice.  But the opposite happened.  With the election of President Obama, it seems that a new tide of racism was unleashed.  People who had been “in the closet” in their racism became emboldened.  Alas, the racial divide in our country became wider. 

I don’t believe that’s because of anything President Obama did.  I think it’s because the white boys were irate that a black man was in the White House.  I believe that’s why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell almost immediately said that he and his Senate colleagues would obstruct anything and everything that the President would propose.  The sons of slave masters hated the fact that “one of them” had become the chief executive.

And you don’t need to look very far into this election cycle to see what will happen if Hillary Clinton becomes President.  Just read the comments on major news stories.  You will see terms like bitch and the “c” word bandied about regularly.  Just as the election of President Obama opened a floodgate of racism, we are already seeing a floodgate of misogyny unleashed against Hillary Clinton. 

If Hillary Clinton is elected President (and I hope she will be), I expect we will see an increase in misogynistic comments.  And it won’t be her fault, any more than the rise of racist comments has been President Obama’s fault.  It will be because people of privilege are incensed that “the other” has a perceived position of authority over them.  They hated having a black man in a position of preeminent power. They will have having a woman in power just as fiercely.   

A couple of weeks ago, NPR interviewed a Trump supporter who threatened armed rebellion if Hillary Clinton is elected.  What I heard?  Some white men are getting furious that their position of privilege is being threatened.