Bubbles

[zoogs]

The bubble of Rural America

I have friends and acquaintances who are Trump supporters. They genuinely do not understand todays shock, particularly from minorities. These Trump supporters do not understand that many minorities believe the people who voted for Trump endorse his racism and bigotry that those voters care more about sending a message to the political establishment than they do about the rights and welfare of human beings.

Authored by a midwesterner who left for the coasts. I think the mutual understanding must go both ways, of course (and despite the title, the article does get to this point, rather earnestly -- though the author is looking at it from a vantage point of "what was lacking about my upbringing?"). I'm heartened by any efforts from either side. And I'll share the closing of the article too, as it really drives the point home:

We are all real Americans, and it's time we start empathizing with one another more.

P.S. This piece started as a tweetstorm on Twitter. I got a message from a high school classmate who now lives in Arizona. He had this to say, "I can't believe what you tweeted was true. I never thought of that before."

#strongertogether

 

[ColoNoCoHusker]

It's a message that a lot of folks on HB and elsewhere have been saying. Thornton wrapped it up pretty nicely tho. Good find!

 

[Danny Bateman]

Somebody posited a while back that Trump drew as much support from disaffected rural folks as he did white folks or conservatives. Amazing how right they were, in hindsight.

Liberals need to understand the needs and challenges of rural Americans better. Shame Clinton's rural healthcare funding boon won't happen.

By the same token, rural Americans should strive to understand why minorities and urban areas are freaking out right now.

 

[RedDenver]

The most hopeful thing I saw was from the exit polling that indicated many of the Rust Belt Trump supporters previously voted for Obama. Hopefully those folks (all of us really) stand up if racism rears it's ugly head.

 

[zoogs]

The most hopeful thing I saw was from the exit polling that indicated many of the Rust Belt Trump supporters previously voted for Obama. Hopefully those folks (all of us really) stand up if racism rears it's ugly head.

That's what I think we all have to count on.

We can only count so much on our elected officials. In the end, it's up to us, individually and collectively.