The 2016 presidential campaign season will go down in history as a true anomaly. Based on exit data and news sources, 62% of white women voters without a college degree voted for Donald Trump and rejected the first woman to have a legitimate shot at becoming President of the United States (POTUS). Overall, 53% of white women eventually voted for a man whose behavior and on-the-record words would have disqualified him from dating their daughters.
White men, constituting 34% of voters, voted overwhelmingly for Trump (63%). Even more revealing, 9% of young blacks and 24% of young Latinos voted for ‘The Donald.’ Also worth noting is that over 41% of the eligible voters chose to sit this one out. I wonder aloud which candidate would have benefited from their participation. One thing I did notice was that Hillary Clinton was “the candidate” instead of “my candidate” among too many who voted for her.
Clearly, there was something very attractive about Trump or conversely something very off-putting about Clinton that resonated with people who chose to vote this go-round — the popular vote, notwithstanding.
Even as we continue to pick through the exit interview statistics, we are at a loss to explain Trump’s triumphant night at the ballot box. Was it fear of terrorism? Was it minority fatigue? Was it white nationalism? Was eight years of a black president too much? Was it Hillary’s gender, personality and/or perceived sense of entitlement? All of the above? I don’t know.
Do the results of this election suggest that we are going backward, forward or standing still? Well, in my mind, America always inches — and sometimes even lurches forward — too slow for some and too fast for others. Maybe Trump’s election is a needed respite or period of intense reflection for some.
Now that the presidential election is technically over, Mr. Trump must turn his grandiose campaign promises into actionable policies. Simply put, this means that President-Elect Donald Trump must commence the torturous process of “Making America Great Again” — whatever that means to him and his supporters. To those who didn’t support him or his clarion call, the phrase “Make America Great Again” is not only a “dog whistle” coded message but an obvious threat to their lives, lifestyles and belief systems. The ultimate question that hangs in the balance is, “Who is the real Donald Trump?” — the bombastic and aggressive campaigner or the “man with a plan.” Time will tell.
Regardless of who Donald Trump turns out to be, the issue and challenges of diversity, inclusion and social justice will stalk both him and us as a society. These issues are not going away. While the office of the POTUS is awesomely powerful, it is limited in terms of moving the agenda of social change forward or backward. The POTUS may aid, abet, stall, delay or derail some aspects of social change — but he cannot stop it.
People will continue to agitate, demonstrate and demand that social change moves forward. To achieve their objective, the American people will use every dimension of their citizenship as a leverage to achieve their objectives. Chief among the levers of the many who see the Trump agenda as a threat will be their power as consumers. For example, with a Gross National Income in the trillion dollars’ range, African Americans, Latinos and others will use their economic clout as “dollar votes” to ensure they get a “fair shake” in the distribution of employment opportunities and jobs.
In my estimation, Corporate America can lead the way. Corporate boardrooms will become the new battleground where strategic hiring and consumer relations will have more of an impact on the social agenda than a “vote” for President. Those who are in management and senior positions recognize that the extreme political rhetoric about immigrants, minorities or religious groups can be an impediment when it comes to winning the war for talent.
Every successful corporation today recognizes the importance of, and business imperative for, strategic inclusion. Adopting President-Elect Trump’s campaign management style would be disastrous for a CEO; having Stephen Bannon’s viewpoint on social issues would undermine strategic objectives; and hiring an EVP of HR with the belief system of Jeff Sessions would overwhelm the company with time-consuming litigation that could have been avoided by dispensing with stereotypes.
I have hope for America and for Donald Trump’s “come to Jesus” conversion. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We’re not where we ought to be; we’re not where we should be; but, thank God, we’re not where we were.”
Pray for the new POTUS and, at best, become the loyal opposition when necessary.
Kwame Salter is an Oak Park resident and occasional columnist for Wednesday Journal.
