Using fear to dismantle democracy
FDR said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Recently, Trump has worked hard to drive fear into his supporters — fear of being replaced by immigrants, women, Black people, Jewish people, indigenous people, etc. Trump’s poorest supporters believe they can claim to be above certain others, such as women, foreigners or those with darker skin. His administration has dehumanized immigrants, even falsely claiming some were eating our pets.
A recent book entitled “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson suggests that the U.S. has had an unofficial caste system since its founding. Caste put the northern European white men at the top and relegated the remainder of us to different levels, with slaves at the bottom.
Wilkerson posits an interesting thesis as to why Trump was elected twice. While many wondered why voters would vote against their own financial interest, Wilkerson suggests the reason was fear. For the poorest of Trump’s supporters, fear of losing one’s position in the caste was more frightening than anything else — even worth suffering a “temporary” financial setback.
Now that the Supreme Court has driven a stake into the heart of the Voting Rights Act, some Republicans are free to institute Jim Crow 2.0 by weaponizing the fear seeded by the administration.
Under these circumstances, can segregation, nightriders and lynchings be far behind? When fear is used to dismantle our democracy, we must put a stop to it and the violence it will surely engender.