9 August 2016 – Wilmington, North Carolina, USA (Disclaimer: the interviews with the unnamed man and Glenn Wilson, and with Ben Staley and Austin Marcelo, respectively grouped together as they were conducted, do not specify which quote can be attributed to which of the two simultaneous interviewees in cases where the handwritten notes were taken too quickly to specify—those interviewed after Laurie Mitnar agreed to be recorded to prevent any further lack of clarity. I apologize and chose to include the quotes anyway given the contributions they make to maximally informing the reader of the spectrum of opinions expressed at the rally.) Due to the multiple-block line meandering through the UNC Wilmington campus that Tuesday in early August, I was not able to enter Trask Coliseum and witness Mr. Trump in the flesh. I consequently only later heard the media-generated uproar about his remark “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks…Although the Second-Amendment people—maybe there is, I don’t know”—an insinuation that gun-toters might have the power to prevent Clinton from being elected or performing as president by, well, shooting her. But this feature is not about what he said, or has said since then. This is a simple snapshot of one community’s support and reasons for at least considering Trump in the southern United States. In the syrupy afternoon humidity, I turned to the plethora of other parties not among the lucky first 5,800 who got to enter the Coliseum, the doors of which opened at 11 am, though Trump was not scheduled to speak until 2 pm. I was provided with interesting firsthand insight into the appeals and turnoffs of Trump, from supporters and the undecided. His real talk is consistently positively regarded, and seemed to preemptively redeem him for any of his off-color remarks. The hottest talking point was not so much Trump’s appeal as the turnoffs of Hillary, which often surfaced even unsolicited by questioning. SUPPORTERS AND POTENTIAL SUPPORTERS The first woman I talked with gave her reason for supporting Trump as there being “too many people cutting in line” with reference to immigrants bypassing the legal process of naturalization—she added that she “would follow their rules” in another country. Most people she knew she perceived “don’t care” about Trump and/or are poorly informed. Another rally attendee, a 17-year-old boy, was more ambivalent. When asked if there was anything he disliked about Trump, he suggested that he put “too much emphasis on tax cuts to corporations; I don’t think cutting corporate tax will help the middle class.” He added, however, “I don’t agree with either of the candidates,” Hillary “[is embroiled in] scandals, is wishy washy, has the Wall St. aspect.” He considered Donald Trump “xenophobic” rather than racist, but took issue with the perceived unfeasibility of his proposals, not their implicit biases; “I understand where he [Donald Trump] is coming from, but frivolous spending, building a wall and a Muslim ban would be impractical.” On his impressions of his acquaintances’ opinions of Trump, he said that “Most people are neutral or dislike” the Republican nominee. The hottest talking point was not so much Trump’s appeal as the turnoffs of Hillary, which often surfaced even unsolicited by questioning. I spoke next with two men, one who gave his name as Glenn Anthony Wilson and appears to be or have been involved in the New Hanover NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). They expressed appreciation of Trump’s honesty, in that “He says what most white working class, middle class Americans are thinking; he’s not hiding his position.” The unnamed man said that while “most people I know can’t stand him,” he’d heard he “has a 73-page agenda for black America” (though I could not find this online) and had suggested “the top 10% of the rich should relinquish their social security” (Trump does have a record of calling for the rich to give this up), ideas which he considered refreshing and appealing. His fear of the alternative they characterized as “Hillary Clinton is attached to her husband’s policies; it might be a replay” of Bill Clinton’s presidency, which he associated with the three-strikes law that led to mass incarceration, an especially devastating phenomenon to black men (in the United States, according to a report from The Sentencing Project dated June 2016, “African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons across the country at more than five times the rate of whites”). One of them added “I don’t like Qaddafi,” referring to American involvement in Libya in 2011 while Clinton was Secretary of State. Elaborating on the link between Bill and Hillary with an unusual twist, Wilson explained his perception that “Woman is an extension of male; the white woman never left him, and she stood by him in slavery. Hillary Clinton stood by her husband. The white woman is an extension of the white man, who runs the world.” I next approached two young men—Ben Staley, 23, a recent graduate of UNC Wilmington, and Austin Marcelo, 20, a current student. Their opinions on Trump were nuanced. They “like how he’s very blunt” and that he “hasn’t been in Hillary’s position… that he was just a businessman” but feel that “he puts people up to violence.” Of Clinton they explained “all I see on TV is that she supports kids” as well as “lots of comparison videos about how her stances have changed,” implying distrust in her for evolving stances over the years. Though clearly aware of fallacies in both mainstream candidates, like the majority of the electorate this year, one of them said “I have to vote because I have to have a voice in America.” Marcelo professed a desire for radical change in the American political system. “I just want something to change, and you have to take the risk; if things stay the same they will get worse. We have so many lobbyists.” Trump “will help the businesses; we can’t just rely on other countries because we’re so in debt.” The two agreed with the 17-year-old about Trump in that they “don’t think he’s downright racist” but rather that “he’s anti-illegal immigrants because they don’t pay their taxes.” Marcelo added, however, that “he means it about Muslims, but that’s part of his strategy; rile up his supporters by choosing someone to hate.” Ultimately, while Staley said he was pretty determined to vote for Trump, Marcelo professed more hesitancy—“I’ll watch him closer in his campaign…he can’t just call out all Muslims.” (PICTURED BELOW: AUSTIN MARCELO, LEFT, AND BEN STALEY, RIGHT) In the midst of the interviews, occasional cult-like chants would spasmodically engulf the supporters. “Lock her up” and “build the wall” were the most common catchphrases—“Benghazi” was also taken up once. Just across the street from the scene, throughout the talks, stood a crowd of perhaps 50 protesters holding colorful signs and hanging over the edge of the metal barriers. They tended to yell back “Love Trumps hate!” Every couple minutes or so, cars and the distinctively American gargantuan diesel trucks that I’m sure could serve as tanks in a pinch would pass between the two sides, and drivers would beep their horns or vroom engines, “rolling coal”—belching black smoke—while shouting support or rebukes out of their vehicle’s windows. But despite the negativity inherent in the former chants, the atmosphere never felt violent. There were police officers present to keep the peace, and they did take two people aside—one protester with a sign that was apparently offensive, and the other who jumped onto the road—but the aggression in the atmosphere was that of rambunctious fans on opposite teams at a football game. Nothing more. At one bizarre, surreal moment, both sides—protesters and Trumpers alike—were roaring the same thing at each other. “USA! USA! USA!” What better anecdote to capture the fracture in the definition of country and progress dividing the two sides? The scariest and most authentic negativity came out during the interviews—from people who have been genuinely let down by the political system. At one bizarre, surreal moment, both sides—protesters and Trumpers alike—were roaring the same thing at each other. “USA! USA! USA!” What better anecdote to capture the fracture in the definition of country and progress dividing the two sides? Laurie Mitnar is a Wilmington resident and another rally attendee in search of answers for herself. “What I like about [Trump] is he’s not Hillary Clinton; I was originally campaigning for Bernie Sanders but I learned 30 years of history about Clinton and I don’t want to see her in office.” When asked to elaborate on what she’d discovered, Mitnar said “Her whole past is dark; financial, corporal, Wall Street backers.” She considers it “a disgrace that she was able to run for presidency while under investigation by the FBI.” Mitnar was the first to mention that she “might go green” and vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein instead of either of the mainstream candidates. Asked if she had any misgivings about Trump, she said “I guess the concern of Trump is the racial undertone but I really don’t know; I came to the rally to check out the diversity.” [Aside: the rally was predominantly white, but then Wilmington is 71.4% white and 19.5% black—men and women of all ages were certainly present.] Responding to the protesters, she in fact said “I understand the race issue, I completely agree with that, but at this point I’m willing to overlook anything rather than go back to a Clinton administration.” As for Trump’s appeals, “He doesn’t have corporate backers, and she would “like to give the country to someone who doesn’t have a record of destroying the country.” Though she is “not as well-educated about Trump as about Clinton,” Mitnar “would like to think he would keep promises.” Her distrust of the current state of affairs was evident in that she stated “Our taxes aren’t going to rebuilding our country.” She expressed profound pessimism about the state of American politics, saying “I don’t really have hope in the American people electing president” and that a lot of the blame rests with the “complicity of the mainstream media.” Asked if she saw any way this could change, she said “We can only change if enough people stand up and demand change” but “I think we have a dark future.” The current conditions that have shaped her opinion of the necessity of change include “corporate greed, pollution of food, water, fracking; situation with BP (British Petroleum) in the Gulf; toxins in Ohio River; Flint, Michigan doesn’t have clean water; drilling; [provision of] water where there are droughts.” She is “tired of wars” and expressed resentment as “You can’t be in the wrong country for 10 years blowing it up and not expect revenge.” She additionally recounted her eyewitness experience of economic hardship, first saying she saw it “every day” in her 10 years spent teaching in the local public schools. She also contrasted the economic situation of her childhood with now; “I was raised in the 70s, and my dad built us a home and had a good job” yet today, her niece and husband cannot get by even though “she works one job, he works three.” This quote is an important one. Think about how you may have heard people spew statistics about the unemployment rate sitting at a nice low 4.9%, and consider Trump’s ability to dismiss facts and statistics. When people like Laurie’s niece and nephew-in-law are working around the clock to get by, are they going to listen to Clinton riff on the status quo and spout the 4.9%? Or are they going to flock to someone with a tendency to spurn facts for feelings? It’s not just an isolated case; Ms. Mitnar said “Everyone I know is hurting financially.” In sum, in the America she perceives, “people don’t have hope; everything is a struggle.” (PICTURED BELOW: LAURIE MITNAR) Fast forward to when the doors of the Coliseum finally opened back up after the speech. I approached a man who did not leave his name and commented on his own perception of the speech, and on how it differed from previous speeches, if at all. He did not mention the 2nd amendment comment—rather, Trump’s focus had been on “NAFTA, immigration, job growth, keeping jobs here instead of shipping them overseas, if they do go overseas there’ll be more of a tax imposed on that whenever they come and try to sell merchandise back in the US; health care policies; he said there was gonna be a tax break, a tax incentive for child care; if you have a family that works, there’ll be child care incentives that you can take off your taxes, which is good for the working family.” To him, the most important Trump policy is “Probably the creation of jobs, and that turns into your taxes; with a lower tax rate for the middle class and the upper class, you can turn that around and create more jobs. Job creation, economics for me is the biggest.” He could not think of anything Trump had said that he disagreed with; “sometimes it’s the way he says it that might come across as a little brash, but he’s saying what people are thinking anyway.” He also did not think there was anything Trump could say that would deter him from having his vote; “we’re pretty committed.” On Hillary: “I don’t believe she’s a very truthful person, and I think she, a lot of times, has to tell untruthful statements to cover up other untruthful statements she’s said, and in a nutshell I believe she’ll say whatever she wants to be elected.” His perception of her dates “Back when her husband was president, a long time ago. You could just tell they were a political machine established in Washington, and they know what to say and what to do to keep them in office.” The last supporter I interviewed was an older Republican man, another Wilmington resident, who did not want to be named. He too likes Trump because “He’s honest. He tells it like it is, he’s not a politician. Politicians, I think, are one of the three groups of people in this country that do the most harm to the country. [The other two are] lawyers and Democrats—liberals.” Asked if he feels Trump is loyal to the ideals of the Republican party, he said “I hope so.” He wants and expects Trump to “tone down the political correctness; he’s going to lower taxes; he’s going to strengthen the military; he’s going to bring free trade back to the country. People can leave if they want to, but they’re gonna pay a heavy tax—which they should.” To him, the most important Trump policy is “Probably the creation of jobs, and that turns into your taxes; with a lower tax rate for the middle class and the upper class, you can turn that around and create more jobs." Asked about Hillary Clinton, he blatantly said “I think she’s a liar. If you look at the history of her and her family, it dates back to Whitewater (a real estate debacle where the Clintons were accused, but never prosecuted due to lack of evidence, of pressuring David Hale into providing an illegal loan to their investment partner) when Bill was governor of Arkansas—and everything she has touched has gone bad. Everything. People forget that.” Beyond Whitewater, he said “look at the Benghazi thing; look at the childcare that she touts as being the savior of which was a joke; her time in the state department, she was absolutely horrendous—working to deal with Iran, we’re gonna get another nuclear state in the world…a lot of people can’t handle that. Including me.” He also said “I really can’t say that there has been” anything Trump has said he’s disagreed with. “I really think that what he’s saying is the truth. A lot of people deny the truth, and that’s what people like about him—he tells it like it is.” The state of affairs of the country currently he considers “dismal.” He suggested discomfort in particular with the threat to law and order he thought the Black Lives Matter movement posed, and even questioned the legitimacy of their claim that racism in the police exists. He stated that police look for people based on the physical descriptions of those who commit a crime—for whites is they were white, for blacks if they are reported as black—and so forth. He did not address random traffic stops, but did stress especially that it is unacceptable for people to call for police murder, referring to phrases like “pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon” (used to incite violence against the police). Yes, it is ironic that this statement was made outside the same rally where Trump seemed to suggest people kill Hillary in the ultimate rejection of law and order—but to be fair, police officers actually have been killed, while Trump was somewhat able to pass off his words as a joke. A few of this man’s friends are opposed to Trump, suggesting again that units of people are not necessarily cloistered in supporters of their preferred candidate. On request, he also commented on Bernie Sanders. “Bernie Sanders I think is out of touch with reality. He wants everything to be free for everyone; nothing is free, somebody is going to pay for it. And you just can’t, we can’t—right now we have 70 million people on welfare. That can’t happen; the country will go broke.” “He’s honest. He tells it like it is, he’s not a politician. Politicians, I think, are one of the three groups of people in this country that do the most harm to the country. [The other two are] lawyers and Democrats—liberals.” DETRACTORS AND PROTESTERS And now we move to the other side of the fence. Rachel, 20, and Arissa, 21, are two more respective UNC Wilmington current students and alumni, who showed up to protest Trump’s visit. In commenting on what they think he would do as president, Rachel said “I’m not really sure; I don’t think he has [would have] the power to do a lot of the things that people think…like, I’ve heard people say he’s gonna put people in concentration camps and all that, but…I think he has no experience with politics, with foreign affairs, and I don’t think it would be good if he goes across borders, especially with Russia, and says stupid stuff like he says here…” Arissa agreed; “Everything he would try to do is just ridiculous. He says he’s gonna build a wall—like, I don’t think he can actually build a wall; what is the point of that? Where are you gonna find the money for that? Second, he’s gonna use way too many weapons on other countries, and is gonna start a war which we do not need to be in.” Rachel reflected that Trump supporters like Trump “Because he speaks his mind”—and, Arissa added, “A lot of people in politics don’t speak their minds.” Here the topic turned to Hillary, who Rachel described as “just saying what everyone wants to hear.” This is why she is “voting for Jill Stein,” justifying herself with the statement “I refuse to vote for evil people, so I’m voting for neither one.” Arissa, however, is willing to vote for Hillary to stop Trump. In expanding on why she considers Hillary evil, Rachel too referenced her inconsistency “Well, she’s gotten people killed, first of all; she lies—I mean, she was against the Civil Rights movement back when she was younger, but now she’s all for it; she was against gay people, and now she’s all for it…she just does whatever she wants to get people to like her.” The mistrust isn’t limited to Hillary; Rachel said “The mainstream media is bullcrap” and doesn’t know where to get information she can rely on; she questions “everything.” Denny “Papa” Bass hails from Southeast North Carolina, while Chris Meek is a New Yorker, but both are current residents of Wilmington, and fellow anti-Trumpers. Denny said “Donald Trump represents everything that’s wrong with America. He represents misogyny; he represents racism, he represents phobia…he represents a de-evolution of where we have been going. We’ve been steadily making progress, building up…women’s rights; minority rights; gay and lesbian rights—over the last 40 years…and it seems like in the past few years we’ve almost hit a wall; we’re not going forward. Donald Trump represents that wall. He wants to build a wall…he is the wall; him and his republicans are that wall, the wall against progression, of America continuing to mature and evolve.” Chris succinctly stated “I think Donald Trump epitomizes P.T. Barnum saying that there’s a sucker born every minute, and right now those suckers are standing on that side of the fence.” He could not fathom anyone supporting Trump “unless they have certain ideologies, racist ideologies, xenophobic ideologies.” Denny broke down Trump’s appeal to supporters as follows. “There’s a certain amount of fear in America, and there’s a certain amount of legitimate fear—but he takes that fear and exploits that. There’s a fear of terrorism, and it’s a legitimate fear to a certain extent; there is a legitimate fear of jobs and wages…but he takes that and exploits it and aims it at the wrong people. So he’s exploiting people’s fears, and people who might not otherwise agree with the misogyny and the racism that are coming out are allowing themselves to be exploited.” Denny “Papa” Bass: it seems like in the past few years we’ve almost hit a wall; we’re not going forward. Donald Trump represents that wall. He wants to build a wall…he is the wall; him and his Republicans are that wall, the wall against progression, of America continuing to mature and evolve.” They take far less issue with the status quo than, for example, Ms. Mitnar. “It’s getting better,” Chris said. “From where we were eight years ago—and we were in a mess, we were on the verge of an economic collapse (Denny: “a depression”); not just the United States, but worldwide. And it took a lot to have to step back before we could have moved forward. And we had the leadership that stepped us back to where we needed to be, and moved us forward. I hear a lot of numbers being thrown around, but the one number that stands out to me is 4.9—that’s the percentage of unemployed Americans today…the lowest since the early 2000s.” Denny added that the rebound of the housing market, especially in the Wilmington area, had been extraordinary; “just look in this area and you can see all the houses being built.” Denny “was a Bernie supporter” and has not decided whether to support Hillary, but “Most likely I will be supporting a third-party candidate—I’m thinking green.” Chris, on the other hand, is “A converted Hillary supporter. When I saw that Bernie wasn’t gonna win the primaries—and I only converted early last month—I listened to Hillary at the N.E.A. (National Education Association) convention (for which Chris was wearing the t-shirt); she won my support in her speech supporting education in the United States. That’s my primary issue, is an excellent public education system…which under that administration (gestured towards Coliseum) would crumble.” Reflecting on the limitations of mainstream media, Denny said that in, for example, the nightly news, “they have 30 minutes so they have to concentrate on very small things and can’t really go into a lot of detail, so they tend to grab the most sensationalist stuff they can find, and that’s what they do…they’re almost as much an exploiter as anybody else in my opinion.” He and Chris both use BBC, and Denny, like the 17-year-old, mentioned the Young Turks. Here are some things protesters yelled back and forth at each other across the fence. There were certainly more run-of the-mill insults flying back and forth too, but there were attempts to convince, which created a surprisingly encouraging sense of free dialogue: Trump supporter, male: Hillary’s been playing her whole life. Anti-Trump (female): Hillary’s not the only other candidate. Trump guy: Yes she is! Anti-Trump: No. You got Johnson! You got Jill Stein! Educate so you can elevate! The last protester I spoke to, Tiffany, 35, had taken the day off to make her voice heard. Originally a Bernie supporter, she now supports Hillary because she thinks a 3rd-party vote “would let Trump win.” Because “the mainstream media plays what they want to,” she considers it unreliable and instead listens to speeches, rallies and candidate interviews. She reflected especially on the contradiction she saw in his slogan. “When I think about making America great again…and saying that America isn’t great now, and again, for me being African American it’s hard to envision when it was great—so when are you talking about making it great again? When are we going back to—a year when there was segregation?” Indeed, in the next president she hopes for “a lot more inclusion for all people” and unfortunately “this election has brought out a lot of hate.” (PICTURED BELOW: TIFFANY) “When I think about making America great again…and saying that America isn’t great now, and again, for me being African American it’s hard to envision when it was great." Trump supporters obviously want change, and though much of the incentive is economic, the majority of the few I spoke with seem to dismiss or cautiously endorse his comments on immigrants rather than take issue with them. But the palpable abhorrence of Clinton was the most consistent unifying force I perceived, which seems to be what gives his “non-politician” brand and bluntness its special appeal. Is she held to a different standard than other politicians? Is she unfairly lambasted? I don’t know. But I do believe that the extent to which Trump has driven home that the process is rigged, however much or little it is actually rigged, in conjunction with the profound mistrust of and disgust with Hillary, developed over years of her switching positions and seeming to have conflicts of interests under the scrutiny of the public eye, mean one thing. If she does win this election, it is the most likely in recent memory to result in violence on the streets and even disrespect for the democratic process. And if he wins…will he who “tells it like it is” provide the changes promised and anticipated? That’s the “yuge” question.
11 Comments
|
Author
Born in Boston, USA, spent six years in Florence, Italy, and now living in Oxford, UK. Archives
July 2017
Categories |