The Killer in Me

I’ve heard this question a lot lately: How do we reach Trump voters? I hear it in my activist women’s group. I hear it over dinner with friends. I see it on Facebook and on Twitter. I read about it in New York Times think pieces. My reactions to this question are as predictable as you would expect. Anger: Man, fuck those guys. Philosophical: Let’s examine the existential crises of said Trump voters. Buddhist: We need to have compassion for those suffering Trump voters. Marxist: We need to examine the shifting socio-economic labor conditions that led to Trump voters. And Back to Anger: No, seriously, fuck those guys. One trend I’ve seen a lot in these think pieces is how threatened Trump voters feel by so-called “identity politics” that leave them feeling “left out” by progressive aims. Essentially, these are a call for BLM protestors to tone it down because, hey, guys, a suburban woman is starting to feel uncomfortable. In essence, placating butt hurt Trump voters is a re-centering of whiteness and white supremacy. Time and again, the “real” story here is why rural Trump voters feel so disenfranchised in Nowhere, Wisconsin…but not how many black voters were disenfranchised […]