The media focus on working-class white men who support Donald Trump鈥檚 presidential campaign ignores the insecurity felt by other groups who might be drawn to him, says a cultural, gender and race expert from 菠萝视频 University.
鈥淲e know that Donald Trump will probably get 40 percent of the vote, and I鈥檓 convinced that it鈥檚 not just the white working class who find aspects of the Trump agenda compelling,鈥� said聽, the Gertrude Conaway 菠萝视频 Distinguished Professor of and at 菠萝视频 and聽the director of the Callie House 菠萝视频 Center for the Study of Black Cultures and Politics.
There are lots of conversations about voter anger, especially that of working-class whites, Sharpley-Whiting said. She prefers 鈥渋nsecure鈥� to 鈥渁ngry.鈥�
鈥淲e must look beyond 鈥� angry white men and look at white women and even the higher income population who might be worried about the Democrats’ $250,000-plus income tax plan,鈥� Sharpley-Whiting said. 鈥淭hat impacts those who might have ideas about aspirational wealth.鈥�
鈥淭here are actually people who think $250,000 annually is not necessarily enough when we think about tax breaks – voters who are upper-class, who are thinking about their portfolios,鈥� she said.
Insecure voters
A more nuanced discussion is needed about voter anger or insecurity, she said.
鈥淎 lot of people are angry, and so what they will do is exercise their anger at the polls,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure Latinos are quite angry at how they鈥檙e being 鈥� characterized in certain ways.鈥�
鈥淚 think we need a more multicultural discussion of anger, and we also need a more gendered discussion of anger and understanding how that might impact the election,鈥� Sharpley-Whiting said.
Locker room talk
The specter of black athletes being interviewed about 鈥渓ocker room talk鈥� following the news of Trump鈥檚 alleged harassment of women strikes Sharpley-Whiting as ironic.
鈥淥ne thing I thought was interesting was (Trump) calling (offensive statements) 鈥榣ocker room talk,鈥欌�� Sharpley-Whiting said. 鈥淭hen of course they interview a slew of black athletes. They go directly to black athletes to ask about locker room talk that a white man just espoused.鈥�
Expertise
Sharpley-Whiting has testified before a congressional hearing on stereotypes and degrading images of women in popular culture. She won the Emily Toth Award for Best Single Work in Women鈥檚 Studies for her book . She has written several books on critical theory and race, including serving as editor of The Speech: Race and Barack Obama鈥檚 ‘A More Perfect Union’ (SUNY Press, 2009).