American Dirt: Trump Supporters are Not Automatically Bad People- Attempting to Bridge the Gap

I’ve kept pretty quiet for the presidential election cycle of 2016. Everybody, on the left and right it seemed, were being dicks to each other. Secretary Clinton called her opponent’s supporters “basket deplorables” and Donald Trump spewed so much vitriol nobody understood how he could even win a nomination, never mind the entire election.

But he did. Trump won the White House. And after seeing the graciousness with which he delivered his acceptance speech, and how Hillary Clinton hid in her room refusing to publicly, graciously, concede, I couldn’t be happier about the turnout.

Here come the “ist” comments. Oh James, you’re a sexist, misogynist, and racist. I’m sure you’ll find a few more to call me. I’m also sure somebody is going to call me stupid, uneducated, and most important, WRONG. You done?

If you’re a liberal and still reading, congratulations. There’s a chance I can still reach you despite being a straight, white male supporting Trump’s presidency. Unfortunately, it’s those who are already rage-typing their comments against me that I need to reach. That a bridge needs to be built with. However, I’m more than happy to start that bridge with you.

If you look, I haven’t posted anything for quite some time. The reason for that is because I allowed “raging” liberals to beat me into the ground. I let their bullying shut me up. It’s what they wanted and I failed to buck up against it. At the time, I wouldn’t have been able to. I was stuck between wanting to be a liberal, and not being allowed to be one; and that made me angry. It made me leave the idea of being a liberal behind. I don’t want to be that kind of person. Ever.

So, what am I now? I don’t know. I can’t even claim being a “pure” Christian. I believe in God yet think the LGBTQ community isn’t horrible and evil; and certainly not deserving of second-class citizenship. But…the LGBTQ community, en masse, DOES want straight white males to be part of that lesser-class citizenship. What am I, politically? I’m nothing. I’m not accepted in the liberal left, and I don’t fit snugly into the right. And both sides are fine with that. Just another of those stupid, poor people. We’re surprised he can type.

Neither party is for the people. The two major parties are for Wall Street. They are for whatever will make money for the Democratic and Republican leaders…and their cronies. And right now, middle-class and poor America just don’t make enough money to be worth saving. The fact that a lot of these people are white means the political machine can turn otherwise decent Americans, whom happen to be minorities, against this large portion of the population…the poor, stupid white people. And vice versa.

America answers to money, which is our god. Whether we want it to be or not, regardless if we worship something else or not, Americans’ lives are spent making money…most of us make most of our money for other people. And no, I’m not talking about welfare checks and Medicaid. I’m talking about people who buy planes for fun. That is my belief. If there is ever a political party (hardy har har) that at least includes middle-class and poor people in their recovery plans, I’m all in. I thought that would be the liberal left, the one party espousing diversity and inclusion. Nope. Straight white people are stupid, lazy, and ever racist, on top of remaining homophobic, steeped in Islamophobia, and simply not worth anybody’s time. Some straight white people are. Most can't be bothered with the "isms," we have our own problems.

But Trump won the Oval Office. Voices have been heard which have been ignored by the rich. The rich, who took jobs overseas and left us with few, if any, real options. Trump won the election not because he said mean things to the liberal left, he won because he says he has a plan to bring those jobs back to America. Because he promised to Make America Great Again by getting us shiftless, useless, stupid white people back to work. If we’re at work, we’ll be too busy making money for the people who buy planes again to bother you.

We’re not evil for supporting Trump’s presidency. We’re trying to survive in the places so many have forgotten: the hills, the grasslands, and the whole middle part of America that nobody has noticed since Detroit lost the automotive industry.

Straight, white people need to work. Most of us can’t afford to move into your big cities. We voted for the one candidate who noticed we still exist, despite his vitriol. Not because of it.

This is only the first post I’m writing in regards to building bridges between minorities and poor whites. Obviously, I haven’t touched on the issues minorities are bound to face in Trump’s America. I’m not ignoring them, I don’t believe your worries are worthless, nor your lives. This is just to start a conversation. I look forward to future discussion.

James Neal is the author of the following fantasy stories:

Of Blood and Blade $3.99 (Amazon.com)