“The Politics of Fear.”
As I said previously, the recent events of Charlottesville, VA were turning points in American history, but what is its source? Its source is the source of American identity, for what makes America America? Its not what it is, but what it is not.
An African historian once told me that American identity was formed negatively. He explained that America was formed by populations that defined itself as white. What does white mean? It meant non-black, non-Indian, non-Asian, and non-Latinos. That was its beginnings. That is its present.
Donald Trump ran on fear, white fear: fear of blacks, foreigners, everybody else. And Charlottesville, VA is a reflection too of that white fear. America is a land awash in fear, fear of the future, fear of a black and brown planet, fear of the passing away of white America, fear of the America to come. That fear made Trump president. That fear lies beneath everything.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
