We have seen an unleashing of hatred during this campaign, especially among those who are supporters of Donald Trump. Please note — I said “especially” not “exclusively.” Hatred has always been a part of American culture, political and otherwise, and it should not surprise us when we see it arise.
I write from several perspectives simultaneously. I am a 70 year old White male from an upper middle class background (two parents born in the 2nd decade of the 20th Century with Ivy League degrees), who is also a serious students (and at times teacher) of history, American and otherwise, who by background and choice has been a member of a number of minority religions (Quaker, various forms of Judaism, Eastern Orthodox), who not only lived through but actively participated in the Civil Rights movement of the last century. I also lived in two heavily gay neighborhoods in the 1960s, Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Heights, living in the latter at the time of Stonewall.
I have never known of a time, either in America’s past or in my own life, where hatred not only did not exist, but was at times fanned for political and personal advantage.
This post is a bit of a reflection on what I have learned from both the historic past and my own life. It may also serve as a challenge to some here, who in their anger and frustration contribute to the pattern that has so roiled the American polity for so much of its history.