Is America Witnessing A White Revolution?

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States in June
2015, the first public reaction was incredulity tinged with amusement. After the initial shock,
ordinary Americans began to like the idea. Heck, the Republican convention was still 12
months away; so why not have some fun along the way. If Americans had learned one thing
about Trump, he was unpredictable; and a bit batty. Perhaps he imagined he could overcome
the other Republican candidates in the field, by pointing his finger and telling them Youre
fired. It would be a refreshing change from the boring political speeches they were used to
anyway.

The Donald did not disappoint them. At the first Republican debate, he tossed his flaming
orange hair, taunted his opponents, made fun of their physical appearance; and did not spare
even the debate moderators. When Megyn Kelly tried to get a rise out of him by asking a
pointed question about his attitude towards women, he went ballistic. Kelly found herself
portrayed as one of Draculas victims, with blood coming out of her various body parts. The
rednecks lapped it up. They clamoured for more. Trump obliged.

He kept on calling Cruz lyin Ted till it stuck. He got little Marco Rubio so agitated that
he tied himself up in knots. Carly Fiorina was described as the face that did not launch a
thousand votes. With each Trumpism, his audience grew, guffawed and cheered. Finally a
non-politician who was one of them. Trump kept winning primary after primary, caucus after
caucus. Among the Republican Party and serious voters, the initial bemusement turned to
mild concern. They had yet to lose their complacency, however. This was just the novelty
asserting itself, they reasoned. Surely Americans would eventually understand that a guy who
indulged in profanities, shot his mouth off without thinking; and showed a deplorable grasp
of world affairs was definitely not Presidential material.

Then something began to change. Trump started to talk about policy his policy. He talked
about a building a very high wall along the US-Mexico border to keep illegal aliens (read
Mexicans) out; and promised that he would get Mexico to pay for it. He declared that most of
the Mexicans who crossed over were rapists, murderers and drug dealers. Next he proposed a
blanket ban on all Muslims entering the country, because Muslims were, you know, bad guys.
The establishment began to breathe a bit easier. This was it, they reckoned. Surely even his
supporters would now realise that this egomaniac who went off half-cocked about issues he
had only a rudimentary knowledge of, could not possibly put in charge of America and the
free world. They would realise that with the Republican convention only a few months away,
it was time to dispense with the fun and games; and get serious. It didnt happen. Trump went
from strength to strength, until his only serious rival, Ted Cruz, was forced to concede defeat.
Moreover, the more Republican establishment figures like Mitt Romney, Lindsay Graham,
John Boehner and John McCain reviled him, the more popular he seemed to become. Before
anyone grasped just what had happened, Trump was the presumptive Republican nominee.

So what explains the Trump phenomenon? How can a man who is whimsical at the best of
times, often vituperative; and who gets his foreign policy input from CNN and Fox News be
a serious candidate for leader of the free world? Here is a man who has foreign leaders
scratching their heads in bewilderment and awe; and who are wondering if America has
collectively lost its marbles. The more outrageous he gets, the more his support grows. As Yul
Brynner famously declared in The King and I, Tis a puzzlement.

Some political pundits have tried to explain away Trumps popularity as a revolt by ordinary
Americans against the establishment and politics as usual. When Trump talks about reviving
19th Century gunboat diplomacy; and bombing the shit out of ISIS, they cheer widely.
When Trump berates China for taking away American jobs, it seems to speak to their souls.
(They dismiss trivial realities like a Made in America shirt would cost $30 at Walmart,
instead of the $10 ones they have become used to.) They implicitly believe Trump when he
says he will make America great again although they dont quite know how hes going to
do it; and neither, I suspect, does Donald.

The above arguments are all valid, but I believe it goes deeper than that. I believe America is
witnessing a White revolution? I believe it is a hitherto latent desire by White Americans to
assert themselves; to make it clear to more recent interlopers that this is their land; and they
had better not forget it. This is not about racism. I dont believe the whites are bothered about
the skin colour of Hispanics, Asians and others. However, they do believe that as the original
settlers those Europeans whose ancestors came through Ellis Island in the early 20th
Century; and of course the English who were already there they built the country. The
Hispanics, Asians, Muslims and other minorities landed up later for a better life after the
Europeans had done all the hard work. It didnt seem fair somehow. They have appointed
Trump as the Messiah who will dispense with the finicky political correctness; and make it
clear to the Hispanics, Filipinos and Muslims that they were here at the suffrage of White
Americans; and they would do well to remember that. No more entire neighbourhoods
dominated by scary, hijab-clad females and Allah-shouting Mullahs. No more townships
where no one spoke English. This was America, dammit. This was their America that they
built with their blood and sweat and they want it back.

I am aware that many readers will find the above opinion ridiculous; perhaps even
blasphemous. America is the land of the free for everybody. In theory, sure. In reality,
maybe.