Are We, Though?

                     “More  Polarized Than We Have  Ever Been”
                                                 Are We, Though?
 
            Over the past four years I have tried to reassure myself that Trump’s following was a “cult.”  That there was a solid 35% (maybe?) who believed what this pathological lying con man said, and I genuinely believed that 65% of our population was clear-eyed, sane, and saw him for what he was.  In the harsh light of last week’s election results, though, I have to re-assess my basic thinking.  When over 70 million of my fellow citizens vote for this man I have to recognize that his following is far more than a cult --- and what does that mean about the United States of America in 2020?  We’ve been told over and over again (by the media) that we are “more polarized than we have ever been” (often with the caveat – “other than during the Civil War”).  Are we, though?  As one who spent a significant portion of his life teaching United States History (or teaching people to teach U.S. History), I decided to step back a little to look at our history as a Constitutional Republic, right from the beginning, to determine if we are, in fact, more polarized than ever before.

                Time-traveling back to the Washington Administration (1789-1797) we can see the emergence of our current two-party system arising from Washington’s competing Cabinet “sons” Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of the Treasury) and Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State).  Right from the beginning, the argument over how much power the Federal/central government should have, versus how much power should rest in the State and Local governments was raging.  Hamilton’s Federalist Party and Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party began polarizing the United States by the time the 1796 Presidential election rolled around.  (Now let’s keep in mind, too, that a huge number of Americans were not even part of the political system in the late 18th century: slaves, women, white men who didn’t own property were all disenfranchised.  Does that mean they were “polarized?”  Maybe, maybe not --- but they were certainly not invested in the system.)  The result of that 1796 reflected just how divided/polarized the nation was, in fact, electing a Federalist President (Adams) and a Democratic-Republican Vice-President (Jefferson) --- which ultimately led to the 12th Amendment, essentially the President & Vice-President had to be members of the same political party.  The 1800 election reflected the growing polarization in the country and resulted in something we might witness this January: John Adams, the outgoing President, did not attend Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration (preferring to leave the “President’s House” at 4 a.m. --- distraught about his loss, as well as the death of his son).

             Jefferson, of course, was the first in what has become known as the “Virginia Dynasty” of Presidents (Jefferson, Madison, Monroe – 1801-1824).  The dominance of the Democratic-Republican Party (shortened to “Democrats” by 1828) during this period does not mean the nation was not polarized.  Again, we had millions of people --- slaves, women, “unlanded” white male non-voters --- who were not  part of the polity, and were, quite possibly, “polarized” as a result.  In 1824 we had the beginning of a seriously polarized nation when Andrew Jackson --- who overwhelmingly beat John Quincy Adams in the popular vote (41% to 30%)--- lost the Presidency as the result of a House of Representatives vote (the “Corrupt Bargain” of Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House).  The Jacksonian era did usher in greater voting rights (non-land-owning white men got the vote) but, more significantly, it created a scenario we can easily identify in 2020.  Jackson was  a non-Virginian Democrat: a frontiersman, an Indian fighter, a slave-owner, and, most significantly, a man who despised the Northeastern “Elite” of politicians and bankers.  It is not by accident that Donald Trump has a portrait of Jackson hanging in the Oval Office.  After Jackson won the election of 1828, John Quincy Adams had to escape out the back door of the White House when Jackson’s supporters actually stormed the building!  Jackson is referred to as a President of the “common man” and there was huge division in the nation --- not only between the West (frontier) and East but also between the slave-owning Southern states and “free” states of the North, as well as nativists and expansionists versus those who were gradualists and had a more positive view of immigrants.  The Jacksonian Era was the beginning of the inexorable march toward the greatest polarizing event in our history, the Civil War.

            It should be noted here, as we observe Joe Biden’s 50%-plus popular vote victory that 39% of American Presidents have received a plurality (less than 50%) of the popular vote and won the White House ---- and five of those (including Trump) actually lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. Eleven Presidents have won the popular vote and the Presidency (Cleveland and Clinton twice each)with less than 50%.  My point here is simple:  our nation has often been sharply and extremely divided.  What I would posit, regarding our current situation, is that we are much more aware of, and sensitive to, the polarization because of the pervasiveness of Social Media and Cable News.  Our screen culture has made awareness of the divisiveness that Trump has sown front and center for four years --- and it has been soul-sucking.  But I’m not sure it’s any worse, in reality, than earlier splits in our society.  Few of us remember clearly McCarthyism and how that was such a hot and divisive issue sticking  in the public’s eye on a daily basis.  I do remember the mid- and late-1960s and the issues surrounding the anti-war movement, the feminist movement, the gay rights movement and, most significantly, the Civil Rights movement created clear lines in the sand --- some of which were generational (Baby Boomers vs. the Greatest Generation) but much of which was a liberal/conservative chasm.

            That we are confronted on a daily --- indeed, hourly --- basis with the divisions we are experiencing makes it feel like this is the worst, most divisive period in U.S. history.  I would posit that our awareness is heightened and, as a result, we are becoming more and more cognizant of a polar conflict that has existed since even before the Constitutional organization of the Republic in 1789.  Basically, we are watching, almost every day, a fierce and concerted challenge to white, male power that has not only dominated our history but dictated (and written) it.  That all of us have now clearly seen how police treat people of color on a daily basis,  we are dmanding a broader, deeper examination of the system that allows such injustice to exist.  It brings into question how other minorities of all stripes (brown, red, yellow, gay, female, trans, disabled, etc.) have been mistreated historically.  Yes, it is that “white male patriarchy” --- but it’s no longer simply on a page in academic textbooks.  Our incessant screen-watching culture (at least in part) is now demanding we start confronting the longstanding system that privileges (wealthy) white men above all others. 

            Does this explain why 70-plus million citizens voted for Trump?  Almost three out of five WHITE voters voted for Donald Trump.  That is the power of the White Male Patriarchy.  Mitch McConnell embodies that power and he is hanging on with his black and blue talons for dear life.  So, yes, we are polarized --- but is it anything it new?   Maybe we are finally turning a corner, albeit slowly, and frontally assaulting those who control the levers of power.  That change is long overdue.

                                                                       Stay Safe.   Wear a Mask.   Wash your hands.