Trump’s election night performance has upended the terms of political discussion in the country, perhaps for decades to come. Certainly, it will be the central topic for the next half-decade at least.
Along with much else that will be altered is the introduction of a new Protected Class of American citizens, who have been the focus of Trump’s political attentions all along, and will now receive the benefits of his policy proposals and government initiatives.
Let us call this new class Distressed White Americans, or DWA for short, to distinguish them from each of America’s other Protected Classes as outlined, for example, in that landmark legislative victory, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A proper, careful reading of this law would reveal that non-Hispanic White people have just as much right to protection as anyone else, and there are a lot more of them who vote. This makes their unfair treatment at the hands of our government lately, even more unfair.
We need a rough starting definition of the new class to guide our analysis, as the country moves forward with the Trump Agenda starting in 2017. For practical purposes, let us say they are, of course, members of the White race, not including those who are of Hispanic ethnic extraction. For further clarification, let us add that the core members of the class generally make less than $60,000 in family income per year, the majority of their members are not four-year college graduates, their religious affiliation is overwhelmingly some form of Christianity, and tens of millions of them live in what was formerly called the industrial rust belt Heart of America.
Their list of grievances is long and deeply felt; including a massive loss of good manufacturing jobs over the last 50 years, out-of control immigration by suspect and unwelcome foreigners of questionable origin, assaults on their perceived religious liberties, the loss of community cohesion compared to the good old days, their troubling decline in family financial security due to smarty-pants Wall Street manipulations, the general flouting of moral values they see in others around them and on television, the continued mass movement to the Big Cities by their children desperately looking for work opportunities, a growing tax burden compared to rich folks who abuse the IRS code with impunity, and the scourge of drugs such as opioid and meth addiction among their neighbors, to list of few of the most important stressors. DWA has an overflowing and bitter plateful to dine from.
While the Rust Belt DWA’s got most of the attention during the 2016 election, there are tens of millions more DWA’s who live across the deep South, in the Appalachian region, and the Mountain West. And, let us not forget the Great Plains component.
A Little American History Lesson
Colonial America was first permanently settled by White immigrants beginning about 1620. The early settlers occupied a few slices of land along the Atlantic seaboard coast, and rapidly expanded westward and displaced the Native Americans already living here for centuries. That is a story for another time; losers come sown the line in priority order.
For the first 200 years, the great majority of America’s new population was of British and Northern European (Scotch, Irish, Dutch, German) extraction, along with a substantial number of involuntary slaves forced from Africa and the Caribbean island peoples.
In 1607 the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown, Virginia. Once tobacco was found to be a profitable cash crop, many plantations were established along the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Maryland.
Thus began the first and longest era of immigration, lasting until the American Revolution in 1775; during this time settlements grew from initial English toe-holds from the New World to British America. It brought Northern European immigrants, primarily of British, German, and Dutch extraction. The British ruled from the mid-17th century and were by far the largest group of arrivals, remaining within the British Empire. Over 90% of these early immigrants became farmers.
Large numbers of young men and women came alone as indentured servants. Their passage was paid by employers in the colonies who needed help on the farms or in shops. Indentured servants were provided food, housing, clothing and training but did not receive wages. At the end of the indenture (usually around age 21) they were free to marry and start their own farm.
What we usually think of as the great waves of American migration began in the 1820’s and lasted for about another 100 years, until the drastic immigration shut-down after the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed, which strengthened earlier warm-up acts in 1917 and 1921.
This gem of nativist legislation was draconian and codified our country’s immigration policy for 30 years, until1952.
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act (Pub.L. 68–139, 43 Stat. 153, enacted May 26, 1924), was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States as of the 1890 census, down from the 3% cap set by the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, which used the Census of 1910. The law was primarily aimed at further restricting immigration of Southern Europeans and Eastern Europeans. In addition, it severely restricted the immigration of Africans and outright banned the immigration of Arabs and Asians. According to the U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian the purpose of the act was “to preserve the ideal of American homogeneity”. But though the Act aimed at preserving American racial homogeneity, it set no limits on immigration from Latin American countries. Congressional opposition was minimal.
Lady Liberty, A Monumental Gift to America From the People of France (11886)
The 100 Golden years from 1820-1920 is the time when most of our ancestors, including the majority of our White forebears, entered this country seeking the liberty and economic opportunity which truly made America Great.. Call it the Statue of Liberty Era.*
Donald Trump’s first relative (his paternal grandfather) came to America the year before the statue of Liberty was erected in New York Harbor. Trump’s grandfather arrived in 1885 aboard a steamer to New York from Germany. He showed up with no money, no job, and a bit of training as a barber’s apprentice. About par for the course for newcomers in late 19th century America.
Walter Crane, “Columbia’s Courtship” (1893) Art Nouveau style Illustration
Trump’s New Demographics of Whiteness in America
We have just seen how Trump has rearranged the Electoral College calculus in 2016 America by appealing to and winning over DWA. Just how White, Non Hispanic is this America we live in today?
Thanks to a detailed effort by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, we have comparable data from 2015 for all U.S. states, in order to look at their population Whiteness factor.
State Health Facts is a project of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and provides free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the United States, counties, territories, and other geographies. State Health Facts is comprised of more than 800 health indicators and provides users with the ability to map, rank, trend, and download data. Data come from a variety of public and private sources, including Kaiser Family Foundation reports, public websites, government surveys and reports, and private organizations. Data presented on State Health Facts are updated or added as new data become available; the update schedule varies from indicator to indicator. The availability of older or “archived” data is limited and varies by indicator. Please contact us to inquire about a specific indicator.
The adapted chart and analysis that follow are mine alone and do not reflect on Kaiser or their policies or positions on this or any other issue. I rely in them only for accurate and consistent data input. The interpretations spring from my thought processes, after reflection.
For purposes of this discussion, I have made a state level chart of the 20 whitest states in America (as of 2015), as a first cut at identifying the location and hot spots of Trump’s DWA. See the chart below.
For convenience sake, I have listed and ranked the Top 20 States ranked by their Whiteness percentage factor, independent of their population numbers. It turns out coincidently that the Top 20 also happens to include every U.S state that is more than 75% White, Non-Hispanic in makeup.
Number one on the list is Vermont at 94%. That percentage is verging on the snow blindness realm. Hard to get much Whiter than that. And Vermont is a very old American state, dating to before the Revolution. The smallest White Factor on the Top 20 list belongs to Pennsylvania, which registers at only 76% White.
For comparison’s sake, the entire U.S. population was 61% White, Non-Hispanic in 2015. So the Top 20 states are all at least 15 points Whiter (or 25% more White compared to the baseline U.S. standard). Another way of looking at this list is to determine an Extra Whiteness factor, compared to the whole country. Here the values range from 15% to 33% White-on-White Extra Whiteness. Note in passing that 15 of the Top 20 exceed 80% in their Whiteness score.
A Classic White Loaf, with a Crunchy Crust (from the New York Times)
Now that’s some White Bread, politics wise.**
In terms of the entire U.S. population by the numbers, the Top 20 Whiteys have 64 million White residents. The whole country has 195.65 million White residents as of 2015. So, this Top 20 state group includes fully 1/3 of all White People in America. Further comparing the group to all the residents in America in 2015, a population of 318.87 million, that amounts to just 20% of the entire country’s population.
Remember, we are talking about White only, non-Hispanic Americans here. Massive majorities (>75%) in the Top 20 Whitest states, yet they account for only 20% of U.S. residents as a whole. It’s easy to see how such folks could feel slighted or neglected by their government, when there are so many others, not like them, clamoring and competing for attention, money and resources.
2016: The Six Blue Flippers From 2012 That Won It for Trump
The 2016 Electoral College swing from 2012 depended entirely on six Blue State Flippers (Blue states in 2012 turned Red in 2016): namely Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. All the rest of America’s 44 states stayed pat compared to 2012, regardless of their Whiteness. See the map below.
An observant reader will notice that five of the sic 2016 Blue State Flippers are also in the Super White Top 20 ranking. Coincidence? Not bloody likely.
Summary
In future days, analysis of Trump’s actions and proposals will need to take into account the heavy Whiteness factor he has awakened and energized in DWA, while Trump works every day to assuage their distress. It will be a critical lens to understand what he is about. This perspective has a different focal length than discussions for the past decade about race and ethnicity in politics. Will it last or fade? No one knows for sure. Powerful demographic forces operating for the last 20 years argue no.
Against expectations ,there was enough pure Whiteness left to elect Trump in 2016. What is unclear is whether, at the margin, that result was primarily due to enthusiasm for Trump or persistent old-fashioned gender bias.
After all, half of the Whitest Top 20 (the six Blue Flippers plus Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Minnesota) voted for a black man twice, in 2008 and 2012, over a perfectly respectable White gentleman. Only four of these same states voted for a White Woman in 2016. Makes you think. The question about Trump’s White Army as a new independent political entity is unresolved for now.
To reinforce this observation, remember that Black Men got the vote guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. White women were denied until 1920, 50 years later. Sex discrimination so often drags behind racial bias. Using simple historical arithmetic, we really shouldn’t expect a Woman President until about 42 years from now, around 2058, if precedents hold sway. Change is good, but it must be controlled, so as not to be too disruptive. I’m sure the 53% of White women nationwide who voted for Trump understand this concept perfectly well.
With respect to Trump’s political agenda. Let’s take him at his word, pending any actual concrete actions or results, that he wants to be President of all of America, including those who aren’t White. Still, one must be practical and business like. There are necessarily priorities. You can’t do everything in just one day or even of few weeks, perhaps months. After all, even omnipotent Heavenly Father took 7 days to create heaven and earth, according to hallowed Christian teachings. His modern day humble servants must be given some leeway.
That is why the new Protected class of DWA is so critical. There may inevitably be conflicts and confusion between two competing good works goals. As President, Trump must set priorities for the nation and decide in what order to carry out his wonderful plans for everyone. He is letting us know right off that DWA is of the first importance. When their distress is relieved and their problems are well on the way to hugely great solutions under Trump’s Administration, there is time enough to get to the important, but not quite as important problems, of Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and just perhaps, those misguided few who didn’t vote for him this time around.
Besides there will no doubt be some residual positive spillover from Trump’s first actions for the protected class. I’m sure those other good folks will understand completely Trump’s totally awesome Presidential responsibilities, and patiently wait their turn, like the good Americans they are. After all, what have they got to lose?
Classic Round Tuit, New Coin of the Realm (2016)
Trump has promised he will get all of them a Round Tuit.
American politics will surely have a lighter, Whiter tone in the months to come as Trump ramps up. Oh joy, oh happiness for the genetically lucky White ones. DWA or not.
The promise is MAGA for all. We shall see.
*Don’t bother wondering if I’m jealous of White European long-time Americans. I am a 100% Caucasian native-born American citizen. The younger half of my American family tree (paternal) arrived here legally a century ago; the older half (maternal) has been on American soil since well before the Civil War. Yes, there are certified birth certificates attesting. My personal credentials, on this score, are better than those of Trump’s family connections by several decades. Understand those facts reflect no special credit on me; they are the luck of the draw. I’m just very glad I’m here, and not somewhere else. At least I was until last week. Now, I have some questions for the near term.
**The characteristics of literal baked white bread, from the Wikipedia entry.
White bread typically refers to breads made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ layers have been removed (and set aside) from the whole wheatberry as part of the flour grinding or milling process, producing a light-colored flour. This milling process can give white flour a longer shelf life by removing the natural oils from the whole grain. Removing the oil allows products made with the flour, like white bread, to be stored for longer periods of time avoiding potential rancidity.
The flour used in white breads may be bleached—that is, lightened further—by the use of chemicals such as potassium bromate, azodicarbonamide, or chlorine dioxide gas to remove any slight, natural yellow shade and make its baking properties more predictable. Some flour bleaching agents are banned from use in some countries.