This is not normal!
Or maybe it is.
Donald Trump is like no other politician I have experienced in my 66 years. His personality and policies feel unique, but if you look at U.S. history, there are many Trump-like moments. This by no means normalizes Trump, but it does give me hope that “this too shall pass" and our democracy will survive. I recently listened to an Ezra Klein podcast, “The Very American Roots of Trumpism, " where historian Steven Hahn puts Trumpism in the context of America’s long history. Here are some of the Trumpy moments in U.S. history:
Jim Crow
The Red Scare (Palmer raids)
The internment of Japanese Americans
Operation Wetback
McCarthism
The genocide of Native Americans
Slavery and the first KKK
Andrew Jackson’s defiance of Supreme Court rulings on the potential expulsion of Native people - Jackson’s response to SCOTUS was OK, that’s fine. Let them enforce it.
The second rise of the KKK
Johnson-Reed Act of 1924/Chinese, and then Asian Exclusion Acts
Mass incarceration of people of color
George Wallace
I highly recommend the podcast (also available in print with this link).
There have always been two Americas - one of hard-working pioneers, and the other of mean-spirited takers.
We are reminded of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 : An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he told the young boy, “a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil, full of anger, sorrow, regret, greed, self-pity and false pride. The other is good, full of joy, peace, love, humility, kindness and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you, grandson… and inside of every other person on this earth.” The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asks, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?” The old man smiled and simply said, “The One You Feed.”
I know you mean to assuage, but that list might look a lot different to high-fiving white guys than it does to minorities. I know you don't mean to downplay the authoritarian threat we face, but some, especially us high-fiving white guys, may take it as advice to carry on as normal and tune it all out.