23 Aug Trumping Fear
The acronym for FEAR could be “False Expectations Appearing Real!”
There is a great deal of fear in our country that does not warrant the apprehension and hyper vigilance it seems to have caused. Although there are many ways to define the underlying source of our collective fears, I think one powerful root lies in our anxiety and uncertainty about change.
We are experiencing a profound and revolutionary transformation in our country. Millennials are outnumbering the Baby Boomers, gays and lesbians are gaining more equal footing in our communities, transgender individuals are voicing their rights, Hispanics may soon outnumber Caucasians in sheer numbers and single woman are giving birth to over 40% of the infants born in this country. Indeed, changes are happening faster than at any time in our history and many people have no idea how to get their arms, minds and hearts around these changes. It is important for us to work together to seek a satisfactory strategy to work through these immense changes, though we seem to lack shared vision for our future and a compassion for individual differences.
Unfortunately, times like this can become ammunition that allows some to take advantage of the collective fear in order to enhance their own personal agendas. Most negatively, we can too easily slip into an “Us” vs “Them” mentality, where “Them” becomes something to fear and defend ourselves against. At the same time, people tend to drift into nostalgic yearning for a more stable time in the past. This is not unusual in history. Many times, both here and abroad, despots have used this mentality to fuel hatred and prejudice and to turn one group against another.
Not too long ago in the south, black men were depicted by white men as dangerous, wild and violent. They became targets of lynching and frequent beatings. Historically, although this perceived threat was completely unwarranted, black men were depicted as a cultural group who had to be terrorized into submission. This became a means to maintain racial control and to assert white supremacy.
More recently, Mexicans, Muslims and Immigrants have been portrayed as a threat to our families, our safety, and our way of life. To some, they are a “Them” who must be targeted, excluded and marginalized.
Unfortunately, our political climate is colored by this dynamic. Donald Trump has become the voice of the “Us,” a protector of woman, families and the way it used to be in America (though it is up for debate whether this old way of life was, in fact, “Great”). His argument is to build a wall to keep the Mexicans out and to implement extreme vetting of immigrants to make sure Muslims stay far away from our shores. Without his protection, he claims, these foreigners will steal, rape and destroy our way of life. His arguments, although mostly false, appeal to a strong minority of scared and angry citizens. Do you remember his description of thousands of Muslims cheering in Jersey City moments after the Twin Towers were destroyed on 9/11? Or the more recent accusation where he declared President Obama the “father of Islamic extremism? Both were blatant lies, as many of his outrageous declarations have been.
As Amanda Taub recently wrote in the NY Times (8/17/16), Trump is relying on an old and historically proven template to further the “Us vs Them” distinction. The template for cultural and/or racial hate is to first condemn a person—say, a male member of a group who is perceived as an outsider—for an attack on an innocent person. The next step is to portray such an attack, actual or not, as evidence of a poor moral character or depraved culture intrinsic to the man’s social group. This characteristic or act is then exposed as a danger to our families, values, safety and way of life. Then, this danger becomes justification to legitimize distaste, violence and retaliatory actions against that group. The last step, which Trump has repeatedly done, is to tie that danger to “Radical Islam.” By this time, the idea is that the mainstream group is emotionally fired up and aligned with the candidate. Time to despise, marginalize and attack.
Trump shares a basic blueprint and common goal with other bigots and fear provocateurs both past and present. Their goal is to solidify “Us against them” by depicting “them” as inherently dangerous to our families: especially our women and children. He thus portrays himself as a defender of our honor, when, in reality, his aim is to secure his own status as someone vital to our society. The probability is that Trump probably cares little about women, as evidenced by his remarkably nasty comments about them during his fight to gain the role of leader of the Republican Party. Remember his disgusting remarks about the TV interviewer Megan Kelly? Actually, he may be just guarding his alpha male status.
To combat and neutralize this template for fear and hate, it might be useful to notice your own reactions to Trump’s remarks. Do you instantly feel an emotional reaction stirring inside of you? Do you feel heated emotion sweeping through your body? Are you picturing taking revenge or wishing ill to his perceived alien? Are you asking yourself “Is this statement that he is saying true?” Or you might ask yourself “Am I acting racist in this situation and following the template for prejudice against the outsider group?”
You might also consider his motives for stirring up fear and hatred. Do you really see him as an honorable leader and defender of the weak? Is he showing a capability to pull people together in times of change and looking for solutions other than attacking and rejecting? Perhaps Trump really has little interest in becoming President but has another goal which he is not directly promoting. Perhaps he is setting up a fan base to support him in another role similar to the one he played on The Apprentice. Maybe he is setting the stage to be the voice of the Radical Right by creating his next TV role or even in creating a new station to rival the other “Them,” Fox News. That might satisfy his immense need to control, influence, provoke and maintain his status as the Alpha Male. And he can do it without having to figure out how to pull a diverse society together. He can say whatever he wants and further provoke fear and hatred. That may be his real talent: to create False Expectations Appearing Real.