Nationality, race and ethnicity are a large part of identity for most people. Factors like this matter more for some people than others — and for some groups more than others — but a sense of group awareness or membership exists in varying degrees across all segments of American society. […] Read more »
The Policies of White Resentment
White resentment put Donald Trump in the White House. And there is every indication that it will keep him there, especially as he continues to transform that seething, irrational fear about an increasingly diverse America into policies that feed his supporters’ worst racial anxieties. … The guiding principle in Mr. […] Read more »
With His Back Against The Wall, Trump Again Turns To Grievance Politics
No single issue has been a greater animating force for the Republican base over the past decade than immigration — except maybe the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). And with the failure of GOP health care efforts in Congress and sliding poll numbers this summer, the Trump White House seems to […] Read more »
Donald Trump Knows How to Push Our Buttons
Last week, when President Trump called on the police to use rough justice in dealing with violent Latino gangs, there was a clear method to his madness. … Underlying Trump’s defiance of law enforcement norms is a calculated strategy advocating the use of force, with the twofold goal of pushing […] Read more »
The Great Political Divide Over American Identity
Are you an American? Chances are your answer to this question depends on whether you have (or could get) a U.S. passport. That is one way many people think about what it means to be American. Another way is to think less literally and more culturally. Being an American, in […] Read more »
Trump gambles on cultural frustration over economic self-interest
Chaos may have seemed the only guiding principle in the White House last week. But amid President Donald Trump’s Twitter tirades; the vulgar rant from his new communications director; the open internecine sniping; and the White House staff shakeup, the President offered two revealing hints about the policy direction he […] Read more »