The incredible whiteness of being
by digby
This is just one passage in a thought provoking essay in today’s Guardian about American “whiteness” as reflected in the Trump and Sanders campaigns in Iowa. I’m not sure I agree with all of it, but it it’s a fascinating piece:
As despair has suddenly spread like a fabulous mist over the white people of America, as the white people die off in their unprecedented numbers, the commenters are surprised, a bit, but they have no plan of action. No policy proposals aim at ameliorating the conditions of white people.
How could they? If you believe the Case and Deaton report, white people are victims of their own privilege – literally. Their cherished right to own guns, and the vast increase in the ownership of weaponry, means that their suicide attempts are more effective. They have more access to opioids because doctors are more likely to trust white people with them. They have the money to make themselves lonely and drink.
It’s a rather depressing look at the white electorate and I’m not sure it’s entirely representative, but it’s interesting. You cannot avoid the subject in this election — Donald Trump has made sure of that. So we might as well take a look at it and try to understand it.
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