Revisiting American History X to pose a potentially transformative question: Does White Supremacy Make White Americans’ Lives Better?
More than revealing a problem with the Democratic Party, the election of Donald Trump to the presidency last November affirmed the fact that a significant portion of the American population maintains a deep commitment to white supremacy, in addition to misogyny and hatred of LGBTQ people. At a minimum, nearly half of Americans were comfortable with a candidate who articulated these values and this worldview and did not see these attributes as disqualifying, even if they gave other reasons for their vote.
Observing this powerful affirmation of this cruel and painful dimension of the nation’s culture, part of the nation since and even prior to its inception, we have to wonder where we can see hope of overcoming this mentality, this deeply ingrained structure of feeling in this culture. I don’t mean just fostering a politics, organizing and supporting movements for civil rights, and passing legislation that counters, contains, and seeks to keep at bay U.S. racism and the other forms of hate that sustain inequality, but motivating a more substantial and truly transformative change of hearts and minds in those subscribing to this value system that is not just damaging to others but to themselves.
