By Arin Doshi
Donald Trump has been the president of the United States of America (USA) since January 17th, 2017, taking responsibility for a nation gripped with bitterness as political division sets in between the citizens of the country. These are divides that are linked with clashes between the Republican party, now the party of Donald Trump, and the Democrat party that is staunchly against Donald Trump as president of the USA.
There has been a growing narrative that has been pushed by the predominantly left-wing established media. This is that the rural working-class predominantly white population, that is classed as Trump supporters, is deemed stupid, uneducated, racist and a lot more pejoratives which cannot be said in this article. It is an unpleasant situation for minority groups who have voted for Donald J Trump and have been deemed as sell-outs by their own race or in the case for African Americans, they have been branded as Uncle Tom’s. The mainstream left establishment has been confused and questions how can it be possible for a minority to vote for Donald J Trump.
A growing number of minority groups have pressing concerns regarding the fact that minorities are being coerced to think in a certain way by social media pages like Buzzfeed, newspapers, and also by politicians of the democrat party. There is this notion that the black vote goes towards the democrats because allegedly Democrats are the best choice for the minority vote. If this was the case, then how would one explain Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, the first black secretaries of state of the United States, were both appointed under George W. Bush’s administration.
Minorities have grown to resent being patronized. They are tired of being told by people from the left that certain values they have are now deemed problematic and old school, such as marriage between man and woman or the role of the woman in the household. This also includes the notion of how the black single motherhood rate has skyrocketed to a tragic 73% as of 2015, in comparison to the ’60s where it was only 25%. Many African and Hispanic communities still hold onto the notion of a traditional lifestyle and see themselves represented only superficially by the Democratic party. Many of the issues minorities face are not really tackled by the Democrat party. Minorities now look upon the Republican party, even though in their circles it has been enforced that it is a party only for the white working class. This has changed and now their common values and aspirations relate to the Republican party under Donald Trump.
The liberal left portrays itself as a saviour for the minorities whom they assume are treated very badly even though that is not the case for most minorities. Minorities instead look to Donald Trump to give them a voice on being expressive how they want, without someone else doing it for them and or making assumptions about them. A recent case is comments towards black people made by Joe Biden. These included comments such as “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black” in regards to the upcoming 2020 elections. There also have been past comments made in which Joe Biden also stated that “integration would turn America into a racial jungle”. Comments like these made by Biden prove that there are certain instilled behaviours regarding minorities. Present among them is that minorities are viewed as pawns only useful during elections or when there is an agenda at stake.
African Americans have felt a sigh of reassurance as Donald Trump has indeed helped the black community by initiating jail term reforms upon the criminal justice system with support from the famous African American singer Kanye West, who is an avid Donald Trump supporter. This then led to the release of 3100 prisoners. In fact, Kanye West has been very enthusiastic about trying to have more discussions with Donald Trump on how to empower the black youths of the country. What this means for the black community, in particular, is that they have a president who is concerned about them as a community succeeding in the USA and being vocal about their goals and ideals in living in this country.
In fact, in relation to the crime rate in the USA, prominent black sheriffs like David Clarke have pushed back from addressing the issue of black on black crime rate. This elephant in the room has plagued black communities and has been severely downplayed in mainstream media. By not acknowledging this, it is impossible to understand the context of the issues Black Americans face. The Department of Justice study showed that black on black crime is so rife that 47.4% of black males account for homicide victims, but also account for 52.4% of black males and to add on the black community represents 13% of the USA’s population. With the rise in gang violence that occurs in predominantly black neighbourhoods, it has led to the black community questioning the flaws of Democrat-run cities such as Chicago and Baltimore that have been run for 30 years. Thus, leading them to look to Donald Trump as a voice of concern in regards to this issue.
Furthermore, there are well known Black conservative speakers such as Rob Smith and Candace Owens who have vociferously criticized how African Americans are being demeaned for thinking wrongly and how blacks have been called Uncle Tom and sell-outs for simply voting for Donald Trump. The rise of these speakers has encouraged people in the African American community to inform themselves more about the political situation and also be expressive of themselves of socio-economic and or political situations.
In addition to that, Donald Trump is known to be very politically incorrect according to the mainstream left-wing politicians when it comes to discussing issues regarding freedom of speech and the discussion of divisive issues such as illegal immigration into the USA. Minorities were always united in the question of wanting to reduce illegal immigration, as it hurts them too, because of media corporations such as MSNBC and CNN, including the elite of Hollywood, have pursued the narrative that being against illegal immigration is racist and very problematic.
Minority communities such as the Hispanic community have argued that it is unfair that an illegal immigrant entering the US gets the same benefits and privileges of being a citizen of the USA immigrant that entered legally from one country to establish a lifestyle. Minority groups strongly urge for the discussion of issues that people shy away from or want to censor in order to stop the discussion. This makes sense, if you waited years to get the working visa or green card, and pour thousands of dollars to do everything by the book, you would be angry if someone would cut in the line. With Donald Trump as a president, who encourages legal immigration, it gives American minorities acknowledgement from a flawed narrative, it gives them hope.
Another community that has been given a sense of hope by Donald Trump is the Indian American community of the USA. The Indian American community is proud to call themselves citizens of the USA, mainly because of how Donald Trump has extended a warm welcome to Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India in the extension of trade relations between the USA and India. The pride they show can also be seen in how they are the ethnic group that earns the highest median income of US$100,000 which is twice the amount of the national median income of US$50,000 on average, thus making them the top median income earners in the USA according to the Pew Research Centre. The rise in the success and achievements by the Indian community has swayed the predominantly democrat Indian American population in voting for Donald Trump, as they believe Trump’s domestic policies will benefit small businesses. Thus, the community as a whole feel included in being part of America, with their voices and concerns being understood by Donald Trump.
Sceptics have vehemently asserted that Donald Trump is seen as unfit to be a president and how his rhetoric has divided the country further. Some on the far left have resorted to simply throwing the label fascist upon him, even though this is a blatantly false allegation. The rise of Donald Trump has indeed proven to showcase how minority groups are viewing their old alliances with the party that they usually vote for, now in favour of the Republican party. Donald Trump has also increased awareness among minority communities into being attentive to the crucial issues that are important for America to succeed, thus giving them a voice needed in order for America to move forward united as a strong nation.
Edited by Chira Tudoran
Artwork by Chira Tudoran