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The First White President (iii. (A class-transcendent "tribe" of…
The First White President 
i.
Unlike his predecessors who had other accomplishments and experience that qualified them to be president beyond being white, Donald Trump is the first president elected mostly because of one reason only: that he is white.
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Motif throughout this section: the "bloody heirloom," meaning the power of white presidents in the past was gained through the blood of those who were oppressed (the slaves that built the white house, that farmed the land to create food, etc); with other presidents, the bloody heirloom was not in full view, it was not discussed--with DT, it is front and center.
ii.
"THE SCOPE OF TRUMP’S commitment to whiteness is matched only by the depth of popular disbelief in the power of whiteness."
<<This relates to how McIntosh says that we aren't taught to recognize our own privileges (or or own place within the systems of power)
After DT's election, democrats & media blamed politicians for not doing enough for the white working class, but all income-levels of white voters voted for Trump (whereas minority working class did not)
"Trump assembled a broad white coalition that ran the gamut from Joe the Dishwasher to Joe the Plumber to Joe the Banker"
"There is a kind of theater at work in which Trump’s presidency is pawned off as a product of the white working class as opposed to a product of an entire whiteness that includes the very authors doing the pawning."
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Attitudes of white supremacy are part of the fabric of this country, and always have been
iv.
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When Obama became president, he thought he would be able to work with Republicans by embracing some of their ideas and trying to compromise
But compromise was not possible: "The first black president found that he was personally toxic to the GOP base. An entire political party was organized around the explicit aim of negating one man."
Obama and his allies thought the toxicity came from the non-stop negative coverage by FOX and right wing radio
But the "genius" of Trump was to see that it was something much deeper--a yearning for revenge so strong that he could do outlandish things that no other candidate would ever dream of and still be elected
iii.
"Certainly not every Trump voter is a white supremacist. . . but every Trump voter felt it acceptable to hand the fate of the country over to one."
A class-transcendent "tribe" of white people is evident in our country, even in left-leaning Democratic politicians
Sanders: "“I come from the white working class, and I am deeply humiliated that the Democratic Party cannot talk to the people where I came from.”
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Even liberal white writers, George Packer (relates to thoughts of MLK about well-meaning white progressives)
"These claims of origin and fidelity are not merely elite defenses of an aggrieved class but also a sweeping dismissal of the concerns of those who don’t share kinship with white men."
Election loss has resulted in calls for democrats to drop "identity politics." But.. "All politics are identity politics—except the politics of white people, the politics of the bloody heirloom."
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