This is the 2nd in Voices4Hillary's series ANGRY WHITE MEN.
Voices4Hillary Commentator Fred Davie puts his own spin on why white men as a group seem not to be acting in their own economic self interest. Fred writes another compelling piece which speaks to white men, who feel left out. Welcome in, he says, if they will listen. Post on white men's pages, if you dare.
White Male Anxiety: Nothing That Meaningful Work and a Living Wage Can't Cure
By Fred Davie
The New York Times headline blared, "Trump Taps Into Anxiety of White American Males." We keep hearing that these core supporters of the Republican nominee for President are disaffected voters, unsettled and disheartened by the changing global economy.
They feel left out of the American Dream, and they yearn for a return a supposed Golden Age, although it is not clear exactly what period of our history this includes since domestic and foreign conflicts and economic and social challenges have always been part of our history.
But let's suppose it's the post-World War II boom that lasted through the 1960s.
1950s FANTASY ERA. THE REALITY WAS OFTEN VERY DIFFERENT OR EXACTING DAMAGE ON FAMILY MEMBERS. THE MOTHER FRUSTRATED BY HER LIMITED OPTIONS!,THE FATHER OVERWHELMED BY FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS, A CLOSETED GAY CHILD, and so on.
Aside from the glaring fact that during this period, people of color endured the humiliation and physical suffering of a segregated nation, that the LGBTQ community was hiding under deep cover for fear of their jobs and their very lives, that immigrants were exploited throughout the country, and that poor and working class white Americans themselves were treated badly.
SAMPLE SIGNAGE OF THE 50s and 60s
But even if this Golden Age of American prosperity for all, and in particular white American males, actually did occur, I don't understand why the current anxiety of white American males-- so toxic it appears to be resulting in historically higher mortality rates among whites males by suicide, drugs, and what Bill Clinton aptly called, "a broken heart" – doesn't lead them to the one candidate who offers real hope.
Instead of deluding themselves with the sideshow nostrums of a demagogic blend of negativity, bigotry and fear, white American males should clamor for the one policy that will help them, and help all of us – a nationwide program that will create hundred of thousands of jobs through a commitment to rebuild what was the envy of the world – our once grand infrastructure system that was a major reason for the American economic colossus of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
We desperately need a national commitment, akin to President Kennedy's bold vow to land a man on the moon, to restore our current pitiful, crumbling infrastructure. That would put all citizens of all colors, faiths and backgrounds back to work in meaningful employment paying a livable wage. The economy would flourish and jobs would sprout in neighborhoods all over America.
Anxious white American males should be flocking to support Hillary Clinton who has laid out a jobs program that includes tax reform, but also new training programs for job seekers, resources for people who will train job seekers, development aid at the federal, state and local levels, and a tax credit for businesses that hire apprentices.Hillary Clinton's jobs plan is detailed and transparent.
INFRASTRUTURE EMPLOYMENT CAN BE BROAD-BASED & FAR REACHING. WHEN HILLARY IS POTUS, THERE WILL BE WORK AND PROGRESS IN AMERICA.
White men of America, please take note – Hillary Clinton offers a bold but financially sound jobs program that will reduce your understandable anxiety, as well as help to alleviate the suffering of your fellow Americans. Because like criminal justice reform, a massive and sustained national program to create jobs through infrastructure will boost the entire country, and might actually create another of those Golden Ages that shouldn't always have to exist in the past and through which all flourish.
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8/1/2016
Like this commentary? Read Michael Kimmel's article Angry White Men, the first article in Voices4Hillary's Series Angry White Men.
