America is a deeply divided nation. That fact may be the only thing that Americans of all racial, ethnic, and political groups can agree about. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll conducted in late 2017 indicated that 70 percent of the American people think the country is “as divided as during the Vietnam War.”
This division manifests itself in political ways exemplified by the partisan impeachment proceedings and gridlock. The Democratic-led House of Representatives passed 298 bills in 2019, yet the Republican-led Senate refused to consider hardly any of that legislation.
In the late 1960s, Congressional political division existed as well, as Republican and Southern conservative Democrats picked up the law and order mantle while liberal Democrats and liberal Republicans pressed for equal opportunities and anti-poverty programs.
Richard Nixon and George Wallace took advantage of the racial divisionand ran on law and order platforms in the 1968 presidential election. Nixon and Wallace combined for 57% of the popular vote. Their law and order message resonated with the “silent majority,” a reference to whites who obeyed the law and resented violent activism.
In comparing and contrasting racial division in the late 1960s with today certain salient differences exist. In the 1960s, many black urban dwellers felt a deep frustration as the civil rights movement and anti-poverty programs did not improve their lives, which occasionally resulted in riots. Many white people reacted with a backlash against the racial disorder as they claimed that liberal, permissive leaders caused the turmoil.
In today’s era, white people are reacting to changing demographics as the U.S. will soon become a majority-minority nation. That white reaction helped elect Trump, a president who many people of color view as racist while his white supporters view him as a hero who shares their frustration with a racially changing America. Numerous studies of the presidential election of 2016, including one in 2018 by Stanford University political scientist Diana Mutz, indicate that racial anxiety was a greater motivating factor for Trumpvotersthan economic concerns. In this atmosphere, some who harbor this racial hatred commit hate crimes.
Today the president and his party accept racial division and find it politically beneficial. The president and his party appeal to a narrow base. In the late 1960s the U.S. Government tried to create a country of racial equality promoting civil rights and anti-poverty programs. However, when racial violence emerged in big cities, national politicians arose (Nixon and Wallace) who saw divisive racial rhetoric (restore law and order) as a path to power. Today, people of color feel similarly alienated, but we have not experienced big city riots. As in 1968-69 many feel the U.S. President came to power and governs in a white racist manner. In that sense, we are in the same racially divided era as we were in during the last years of the 1960s.
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