Claudia Rankine, author of the award-winning Citizen: An American Lyric received a $625,000 stipend as her MacArthur genius grant. And she's using it all to found the Racial Imaginary Institute. The goal of the "interdisciplinary arts and cultural laboratory," according to Rankine, is to "dismantle white supremacy."
"One of the things I think the culture needs is an actual location where writers and artists and thinkers can come together and put pressure on the language that makes apparent white supremacy and white dominance," Rankine told the LA Times.
Rankine wants to know specifically how white supremacy influences American spaces.
"If you’re a writer, you have the benefit of talking to other artists who are interested in the subject," Rankine said of the institute.
"What are we missing? What isn’t getting said? What are the narratives of white greatness that disallow other things to be brought to the surface?"
-Alexandra Rosenmann in ALTERNET 10/19
A national conversation, then. Of course. In a sense, we Americans have been having this conversation, dialogue, with and amongst ourselves in one form or another, in words and blood for some time. There's that famous quote from W.E.B. Dubois that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line" (He wrote this around 1903-perhaps even earlier). We would be judicious to be more expansive. In fact we should start-yet again- from the beginning, say around 1787, and continue right on up until this coming Tuesday, Nov 8, 2016 even as the conversation has been ongoing. Its going on right now. But it still takes a heap of good listening and reading and that old experienced wise guy, living, to make matters a little more equitable, a little more understandable, less strident certainly, less belligerent; to trump the hate. Election Day is a conversation of sorts- this blog is my fumbling contribution even if it is only a conversation with myself - although according to "google stats" visitors from the Ukraine and China do stop by from time to time but nobody bothers to leave their card or a discouraging word- and all these-my posts and musings and self-indulgences- seem to ask but one thing: why aren't we a better nation?
This morning while waiting for the coffee to finish dripping and my dog Willie to finish his breakfast I watched a report about wild Bill Clinton speaking to a bunch of folks down in North Carolina. That is, I think it was North Carolina- come to think of it it could have been Arizona or Wisconsin- one of those "important to win" states in a close election. Thats how the TV news seems to define them as if not all states are equally important but thats because they seem to know how most states will be voting on Tuesday and its left for those they are not sure about to actually decide the election- ever since the dearly missed Tim Russert showed them the way to write on a chalkboard (crayonboard?)- anyway ol' Bill's speech seemed to be directed at what most writers and commentators like to refer to as 'THE WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER". Evidently, a crucial voting bloc. I often think that this distinct entity is a male only designation but thats only because I'm a retired recluse whose dear wife does not allow me in the kitchen- I'm sure President Bill was addressing the ladies also- of course he was (now stop that). Everyone on my TV seems to think that Trump has this "bloc" sewn up. By WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER they mean no college grads, not even from Trump University, but they don't seem to indicate if these voters are even high school grads or for that matter- oh, forget it. Still,all in all a potent political force- why all you have to do is google WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS and see that such a phrase received- as of this noon anyway- over 42 million searches (why thats more than a pornography site I once, eh, accidentally googled )
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The Brookings Institution asks:
Can an extraordinarily high turnout of the white working class produce a Trump victory on Nov. 8? It is clearly the case that the white working class, identified here as whites who are not college graduates, has been underrepresented among the voting population in prior elections
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The future First Man was as schoolmasterly and as personable as ever when he offered that he, too, was a white man from the south and knew the fears and concerns of his audience. Thats another thing about this designation -The White Working Class Voter; it seems to just apply to the southern parts of these United States- but everyone knows that can't be right and the often obnoxious and always irritating Joe Scarborough thought the former President's remarks were arrogant and ill-advised. The thought-challenged Mr. S said the problem lies in the "arrogance of the elites"- how dare they pose what those WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS are going through under the repressive regime of Obama and co.?
The ex-President understood some- that this seemingly cohesive group of concerned citizens were deeply afraid that America was fast becoming a different shade of red white and blue they always thought it was or should be; too many neighbors were starting to show more brown and yellow and black and god knows what else in their facial tints; they feared that Mexicans would breach Mr. Trump's Great Wall and take their low-paying Walmart jobs; they feared Hillary would declare the second amendment null and void and they would have no guns to defend themselves against the Muslim hordes flying in from the Levant on magic carpets. The WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER is nothing if not afraid.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
-Alexandra Rosenmann in ALTERNET 10/19
A national conversation, then. Of course. In a sense, we Americans have been having this conversation, dialogue, with and amongst ourselves in one form or another, in words and blood for some time. There's that famous quote from W.E.B. Dubois that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line" (He wrote this around 1903-perhaps even earlier). We would be judicious to be more expansive. In fact we should start-yet again- from the beginning, say around 1787, and continue right on up until this coming Tuesday, Nov 8, 2016 even as the conversation has been ongoing. Its going on right now. But it still takes a heap of good listening and reading and that old experienced wise guy, living, to make matters a little more equitable, a little more understandable, less strident certainly, less belligerent; to trump the hate. Election Day is a conversation of sorts- this blog is my fumbling contribution even if it is only a conversation with myself - although according to "google stats" visitors from the Ukraine and China do stop by from time to time but nobody bothers to leave their card or a discouraging word- and all these-my posts and musings and self-indulgences- seem to ask but one thing: why aren't we a better nation?
This morning while waiting for the coffee to finish dripping and my dog Willie to finish his breakfast I watched a report about wild Bill Clinton speaking to a bunch of folks down in North Carolina. That is, I think it was North Carolina- come to think of it it could have been Arizona or Wisconsin- one of those "important to win" states in a close election. Thats how the TV news seems to define them as if not all states are equally important but thats because they seem to know how most states will be voting on Tuesday and its left for those they are not sure about to actually decide the election- ever since the dearly missed Tim Russert showed them the way to write on a chalkboard (crayonboard?)- anyway ol' Bill's speech seemed to be directed at what most writers and commentators like to refer to as 'THE WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER". Evidently, a crucial voting bloc. I often think that this distinct entity is a male only designation but thats only because I'm a retired recluse whose dear wife does not allow me in the kitchen- I'm sure President Bill was addressing the ladies also- of course he was (now stop that). Everyone on my TV seems to think that Trump has this "bloc" sewn up. By WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER they mean no college grads, not even from Trump University, but they don't seem to indicate if these voters are even high school grads or for that matter- oh, forget it. Still,all in all a potent political force- why all you have to do is google WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS and see that such a phrase received- as of this noon anyway- over 42 million searches (why thats more than a pornography site I once, eh, accidentally googled )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Brookings Institution asks:
Can an extraordinarily high turnout of the white working class produce a Trump victory on Nov. 8? It is clearly the case that the white working class, identified here as whites who are not college graduates, has been underrepresented among the voting population in prior elections
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The future First Man was as schoolmasterly and as personable as ever when he offered that he, too, was a white man from the south and knew the fears and concerns of his audience. Thats another thing about this designation -The White Working Class Voter; it seems to just apply to the southern parts of these United States- but everyone knows that can't be right and the often obnoxious and always irritating Joe Scarborough thought the former President's remarks were arrogant and ill-advised. The thought-challenged Mr. S said the problem lies in the "arrogance of the elites"- how dare they pose what those WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS are going through under the repressive regime of Obama and co.?
The ex-President understood some- that this seemingly cohesive group of concerned citizens were deeply afraid that America was fast becoming a different shade of red white and blue they always thought it was or should be; too many neighbors were starting to show more brown and yellow and black and god knows what else in their facial tints; they feared that Mexicans would breach Mr. Trump's Great Wall and take their low-paying Walmart jobs; they feared Hillary would declare the second amendment null and void and they would have no guns to defend themselves against the Muslim hordes flying in from the Levant on magic carpets. The WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER is nothing if not afraid.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
WASHINGTON, Pa.— Hillary Clinton isn’t banking on winning pockets of Pennsylvania and Ohio packed with the sort of white, working class voters flocking to Republican Donald Trump. She just wants to avoid a wipeout.
Mr. Trump’s path to victory in these battleground states hinges on running up overwhelming margins in largely white counties, neutralizing Mrs. Clinton’s advantage among minority and college-educated voters ....
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I wonder how these WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS manage to get going every day with the whole world ready to crash on their throbbing heads. How do they think the President of the United States is such a bane to their existence. Even in grammar school (elementary for you younger kids) we learned that the President of the U.S. doesn't make law. He can propose, suggest, ask, ( under emergency conditions enact) but that's Congress's job. And once upon a time he couldn't even declare war by himself- once upon a time. In upstate NY where your obedient blogger resides there are a whole bunch of WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS. And most of upstate has consistently voted Republican since before Rip Van Winkle fell asleep. In every hamlet and every village, in every town and county and every city- there are elected officials who impact our lives everyday- from fixing our roads and byways to affixing budgets for water maintenance, police departments, our kids' schools' athletic fields. Every year, every 2 years, 4 years WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS elect administrators and supervisors and clarks and judges and mayors who will raise and lower taxes, cash in favors for developers or whoever- set out the yearly budgets for the town's library or tear it down; then WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS also get to vote for their STATE legislators who will determine who and what will get even more or less money for their local needs; determine state sanctioned regulations for any number of businesses and enterprises- and there is the office of Governor who gets to put his stamp of approval on stuff or not and direct commissions and public authorities to hopefully work for the benefit of all the people in the state: My particular state senator - a republican that has been elected to the State's senate for over 30 years- ask any WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER- how his and her life has changed in that time- as a final exclamation on his electoral career- mails out a large flyer with a picture of what seems to be a father and his two grown-up boys dressed in hunting camouflage carrying their very imposing hunting rifles standing with their adorable hunting dogs looking somewhat menacingly at the camera but more bewildered really- if you must know my initial thought was "Deliverance"- with a text that avers that my old state senator is busy "defending our second amendment rights"- as if this was ever an issue in this election. On the other side is a picture of a father and a younger son walking from the woods carrying their rifles, laughing. The father is holding what appears to be a couple of grouse. Its what father and sons do I guess- eat grouse together. There's no women pictured- which just goes to my original silly thought of WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTERS are all men-wearing camouflage and eating grouse.
What I find so incredibly perplexing is how did the WHITE WORKING CLASS VOTER become so desperately afraid after all these years and layers of Republican Rule?
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HOWEVER, Theo Anderson of "In These Times" takes issue with the Thinkers at Brookings:
The key to explaining support for Trump, Rothwell found, wasn’t income but anxiety. Trump supporters live in culturally and racially isolated areas and are afraid that they’ll soon live in a nation that’s no longer recognizable. “Support for Trump is highly elevated in areas with few college graduates,” Rothwell wrote, “far from the Mexican border, and in neighborhoods that stand out … for being white, segregated enclaves, with little exposure to blacks, Asians, and Hispanics.”
Trump claims, nonetheless, to be the “voice” of the marginalized, and media portraits of working class people who support him have bolstered that claim. The conservative intellectual Francis Fukuyama gave a pure distillation of the common wisdom in an interview with The Ezra Klein Show recently: “The Trump candidacy represents the forgotten white working class that has been underrepresented in American democracy over the past generation,” he said. “So they’re getting a voice.”
That's wrong on two levels. It isn’t primarily the white working class that has propelled Trump’s rise. And his supporters are far from forgotten or ignored.
In truth, their power and their voice are far out of proportion to their numbers. Among the clearest and most destructive examples is the U.S. Senate. Consider that the nation’s five smallest states (by population) had about 3.5 million people as of 2015, while the five largest states had some 120 million people. Generally, the larger states are much more racially and ethnically diverse than the smaller states, which are overwhelmingly white. Yet the five smallest and five largest states have equal representation: 10 percent of the votes. In a Senate that’s closely divided, and in which use of the filibuster to paralyze the process has become routine, the over-representation of white people has far-reaching consequences.
That stark inequality brings into focus a deeper reality: The system has always tilted sharply in favor of the white people who make up Trump’s base. He’s not tapping into the frustrations of the white working class so much as stoking the fears of relatively affluent people who resist the cultural, religious and demographic changes that are happening in America, and are afraid of losing their place—their identity—in the emerging nation. For all his attempts to portray himself as an outsider, Trump is the ultimate establishment candidate. He is the voice, mainly, of people who've benefitted from the rigged system.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
HOWEVER, Theo Anderson of "In These Times" takes issue with the Thinkers at Brookings:
The key to explaining support for Trump, Rothwell found, wasn’t income but anxiety. Trump supporters live in culturally and racially isolated areas and are afraid that they’ll soon live in a nation that’s no longer recognizable. “Support for Trump is highly elevated in areas with few college graduates,” Rothwell wrote, “far from the Mexican border, and in neighborhoods that stand out … for being white, segregated enclaves, with little exposure to blacks, Asians, and Hispanics.”
Trump claims, nonetheless, to be the “voice” of the marginalized, and media portraits of working class people who support him have bolstered that claim. The conservative intellectual Francis Fukuyama gave a pure distillation of the common wisdom in an interview with The Ezra Klein Show recently: “The Trump candidacy represents the forgotten white working class that has been underrepresented in American democracy over the past generation,” he said. “So they’re getting a voice.”
That's wrong on two levels. It isn’t primarily the white working class that has propelled Trump’s rise. And his supporters are far from forgotten or ignored.
In truth, their power and their voice are far out of proportion to their numbers. Among the clearest and most destructive examples is the U.S. Senate. Consider that the nation’s five smallest states (by population) had about 3.5 million people as of 2015, while the five largest states had some 120 million people. Generally, the larger states are much more racially and ethnically diverse than the smaller states, which are overwhelmingly white. Yet the five smallest and five largest states have equal representation: 10 percent of the votes. In a Senate that’s closely divided, and in which use of the filibuster to paralyze the process has become routine, the over-representation of white people has far-reaching consequences.
That stark inequality brings into focus a deeper reality: The system has always tilted sharply in favor of the white people who make up Trump’s base. He’s not tapping into the frustrations of the white working class so much as stoking the fears of relatively affluent people who resist the cultural, religious and demographic changes that are happening in America, and are afraid of losing their place—their identity—in the emerging nation. For all his attempts to portray himself as an outsider, Trump is the ultimate establishment candidate. He is the voice, mainly, of people who've benefitted from the rigged system.
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