Curtis Ward | End of a campaign of hope, Harris out and Trump in

Hand wringing and critical post-election analysis are the expected reaction to an unsuccessful election campaign. Most of the post-election analysts would have been among most who in the immediate pre-election period were among those who were saying Vice President Kamala Harris had ran a brilliant campaign and had done everything right. Now many have opposite views.

Very few analysts and commentators were bold enough during the campaign to factor into a possible outcome the three most significant challenges she faced. The state of the economy aside, the issues which resonated most with President-elect Donald Trump’s more than 70 million Americans who voted for him were based on racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. Racism is alive and well in America; sexism has been and continues to be embedded in American cultures across races but more pronounced among white men; and a general hate of immigrants of colour, which is also laced with racism.

Sadly, Trump’s targeting of immigrants of colour and juxtaposing the perceived lack of strength in a woman president to protect American security and hence protecting the US border from an “invasion of illegal aliens” was effective. Added to that are the spurious claims about immigrants’ criminality, particularly undocumented immigrants (my preferred term for illegal aliens), immigrants “poisoning the blood of Americans”, America being a “garbage can” for undocumented immigrants of colour, and immigrants are “enemies within”. This follows and in conformity with prior description of non-white immigrants as coming from “shit-hole countries”, the egregious attacks on Haitian immigrants, and his campaign calling Puerto Rico an island of garbage — clearly meaning Puerto Ricans (American citizens) are garbage. Yet, Latino men overwhelmingly voted for Trump, a reflection of the male cultural chauvinism brought with them to America.

Hundreds of thousands of Harris’ supporters at her campaign rallies found resonance in the message, “We are not going back!” It was a good but incomplete message. The message did not take into consideration that the average American citizen is not as smart as one would normally ascribe to a population with access to the best education available anywhere in the world. Some may even argue that given all the other issues referred to above, the result of the presidential election is a reflection of Trump’s and the Republican Party’s objective of dumbing down Americans.

FALSE ASSUMPTION

So while Harris’ message of ‘we are not going back’ resonated with hundreds of thousands at her rallies also shared broadly in news reports. It was incomplete. There was a false assumption that American voters were smart enough to know what was being referenced by this statement.

Not going back to what? Was it to overt and systemic racism — the Jim Crow era when racism reigned supreme? Going back to the marginalisation of people of colour as the norm? Going back to the days when women served as “house slaves” not merely housewives in their own homes, subservient to their white husbands and masters without any rights of their own? Going back to blaming others, particularly immigrants of colour, for the problems of American citizens when those problems are directly related to America’s actions at home and abroad?

While Harris’ message was well-intentioned enough Americans did not understand the depths of what it was they would not want to go back to. As indicated, Harris’s message was incomplete. Those who understood were outnumbered by millions who wanted to go back to the days of white racism and contrived superiority, and to a male-dominated society and control of women’s freedom and rights. A majority of the uneducated, particularly white men, wanted to return to those days of false superiority and that is what Trump offered them. The concern among conservatives for what they called “the browning of America” is decades old. Trump offered a reversal of that perceived threat to white America.

But what about Trump’s support by young people, particularly young men? Those among this demographic who voted for Trump do not know or have an appreciation for American history. Especially those of colour who lack knowledge of their forefathers’ and mothers’ sacrifices, many with their lives, to bring about changes they now take for granted. They are not just ignorant of their own history, they are misinformed by the very social media platforms they rely heavily on for their information. The youth cohort no longer reads books which are becoming less available with the Republicans book-burning crusade.

SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE

Harris faced a significant challenge. To pack a normally two-year presidential campaign into 107 days was quite a feat. Her efforts were phenomenal. No one can honestly find much fault with her campaign and the depth of her message. She had to compete with prejudices against women, bias against her race, and Russian-produced social media falsehoods.

She did extraordinarily well to reverse several decades of prejudices and racism. She inspired tens of millions. I was at Howard University among the thousands in the Yard on election night who went home after midnight saddened at the obvious reality Trump would be the next president. The pride they showed in Kamala Harris, their candidate, and the joy of the celebration was transformed into disbelief. Some cried.

Harris returned the day after to Howard University where her supporters gathered in their thousands again perhaps for the final time she would address them in this context. Her message was positive and reassuring to many. But the tears expressed their disappointment and fears for the future. Her charge to them was to continue in the struggle for freedom and justice, for democracy and the rule of, and for equal justice for all. Not to give up. And she suggested that she was not done fighting for freedom and democracy, and for justice. She promised to remain in the struggle.

Curtis Ward is former ambassador of Jamaica to the United Nations, with special responsibility for security council affairs. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com