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Racism in Trump's America: reflections on culture, sociology, and the 2016 US presidential election[Note 1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at ...]
Author(s) -
Bobo Lawrence D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1111/1468-4446.12324
Subject(s) - racism , rhetoric , presidential system , champion , white supremacy , presidential election , politics , white (mutation) , sociology , power (physics) , political science , political economy , gender studies , law , linguistics , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , gene
Abstract Despite much positive change in the post civil rights era, U.S. notions of racism and white supremacy remain powerful elements of American culture. The adaptability and enduring power of these forces can be seen in the emergence of a new historical epoch best describe as the era of Laissez Faire Racism. Prevalent attitudes among white Americans, certain theoretical arguments and hypotheses in American sociology, as well the election of Donald Trump rest upon the on‐going operation of racism. In particular, I attribute Trump's electoral success to three critical dilemmas of race that defined contours of the 2016 presidential election: (1) worsening economic inequality in the presence of rapidly changing ethno‐racial demography; (2) intensified political partisanship in the presence of well‐institutionalized racially coded campaign strategies and rhetoric; and (3) the failure of the Clinton campaign to simultaneously champion the interests of working and middle class families and galvanize the previously powerful multiracial Obama coalition. I speculate on how to forge more effective multiracial coalitions in the future.