My program began during February in Tokyo, Japan. As I sat eating soba in a restaurant accompanied by a few European students, they asked me if anyone legitimately considered Trump a candidate. A day later a group of Japanese and Chinese students asked me a similar question before a lecture. I hoped the numbers would be small. I had faith in the American public to be reasonable, if not empathetic. Trump may “speak his mind,” but what he says is neither profound nor based on a legitimate policy platform. “What do you think about Trump?” “ What is going on in America?” I would be asked the same questions over and over again.
Before Donald Trump’s campaign, I assumed his political dogma would only sway a small population of the American public. However, before going abroad I only met one person who admitted to being a Trump supporter. With this knowledge, I wrongly assumed Trump would not be a legitimate candidate. Then on Super Tuesday, I watched him win my home state, Tennessee, along with six other states as I settled into my dorm in Seoul, South Korea.
No matter how angry Trump supporters appear towards Muslims, immigrants, or the #BlackLivesMatter movement, their anger is misplaced. Trump supporters have been indoctrinated. His supporters are angry because the fruits of their labor do not amount to enough U.S. dollars to support their families. Americans are conditioned to believe hard work alone is not enough to support your family if you do not do the right “type” of work. In Japan, I noticed every person took pride in his or her job, and every worker was treated with respect. This is because all aspects of the economy are important to the well-being of a nation. If you work hard, you should be able to support yourself or your family. Why do we stigmatize a livable minimum wage? The working class should protect its own interests, yet the voting patterns prove otherwise. Trump supporters are angry at an education system which does not seem to benefit them. The logical step would be to elect candidates who value and will invest in education, benefiting the future of our country. Trump supporters are angry because their conceptions of the world and the United States are no longer compatible with reality. Their sense of normalcy altered, and they are furious. Savvy leaders know public anger rooted in larger systemic and cultural issues is often channeled in either the immense challenge of changing society, or channeled towards a scapegoat—the latter being the easiest option.
Historically speaking, leaders incite hatred to muffle people’s fears of the unknown, change, and disillusionment. It has happened in Europe. It has happened in the Middle East. And it has happened in the United States, albeit on smaller scales. A nation which justifies the placement of Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II, a nation which continuously finds way to justify the evils of slavery and racial segregation, and a nation which responds to every mass shooting tragedy with a cry of “We NEED OUR GUNS!” is a nation which can easily elect Trump as president.
We can improve our nation, but to make America great again is to occupy a level of greatness built on the suffering and mistreatment of indigenous, immigrant, and colored populations. To be great again is to condone the bigotry of our past. The entire world is waiting for our decision because as a powerful nation in the age of globalization and neoliberal capitalism, we are connected, and even a wall cannot sever our ties.
Latazia Carter graduated from Georgetown College in 2017 with a double majore in justice and peace studies and in government and a minor in Korean. She studied in Japan, South Korea, and China as part of the 3-Campus Consortium for Comparative East Asian Studies during the spring 2016 semester. While abroad, she expanded her knowledge of how economic disparities in different societies affect government and education and blogged for the Junior Year Abroad Network.
