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Davis, California

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Letter to the Editor: Properly bridging Trump’s division of the country

CAITLYN SAMPLEY / AGGIE

To the Editor:

Re: “There and Back Again: The political evolution of a white guy” by Nick Irvin (column, Dec. 7):

 

In your article you describe Trump as accelerating the divide in our country, but a mere two paragraphs later you say that he “rode the waves of angry white people.” I will not deny that Trump divided this country, but by singling out white people, by calling your own anger “white masculine grievance,” you are doing nothing to bring it back together. You are contributing to the very thing that made you angry following the election.

Your article implies that your anger was misplaced, that “scrutinizing disaffected white people” is the correct thing to do. Other times in the article you mention “whiteness” in a negative context. This is something I truly do not understand: How is it acceptable to judge anybody based on their race?

In your final paragraph there are some sentiments I agree with: that we need to show people where Trump is wrong and how he is hurting our country. There is a truly awful group within Trump’s supporters — the white supremacists. But lumping all white people into the same group does nothing to show these people how terrible Trump is. I’ve lived in rural areas dominated by farmers and miners, and those people were terrified of losing their jobs. They thought that Trump would save their livelihoods or help to improve their lives. There are so many issues to hit Trump on: his tax plan, his nepotism, his rhetoric. But conflating all of his white supporters as a homogeneous group will not help your cause.

EPHRAIM SCOT, DAVIS

Ephraim Scot is a third-year history major at UC Davis.

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie.

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