The U.S.: A Nation of Competing Narratives?

Instead of talking about fiction, here's a brief word about society and politics.

Like a lot of people I have been puzzling over how we got where we are and in the course of doing so, I have been reading a lot more conservative commentary than I used to.

It appears we are a country of two very different narratives. One, which former president Bill Clinton tried to prepare us for in a speech at Portland State University on June 13, 1998, is that with continued significant immigration and the coming demographic changes associated with that, diversity will increase and as whites gradually become a minority, the country will change – possibly for the better.

The decisive election and re-election of Barak Obama was a welcome sign to many that our country was prepared and willing to travel such a path.

The other narrative, stated only explicitly by extremists, but indirectly by a host of others, is that this is a white country and should remain that way indefinitely. Of course, most of those who adhere to this narrative don’t put it in such blunt terms – and even strongly condemn White Supremacists. The view of these folks is that immigration, now mainly non-white, should be restricted and those newcomers who are allowed in must adapt to our traditional European-derived culture and not challenge the notion of who should control the country.

Generally speaking, this is the view of many who support president Donald Trump, or at least his attitudes and values, even while, in some cases, being uneasy about the man himself.

Conservative commenters frequently describe the current situation as a culture war and they generally view affirmative action and the Obama presidency as particularly disastrous  steps on a slippery slope. They are intent on undoing everything and anything that has Obama’s name attached to it. They want history to show that he did absolutely nothing.

Trump, mindful that the folks who hold such views are the most secure segment of his base, is clearly attempting to implement such an approach -- a sort of racial and/or cultural cleansing, one might argue.

This strain of conservative thought views the white male as a savior. In the diversity narrative, the white male is increasingly depicted as a reactionary villain.

Just how these narratives will play out remains to be seen. I’m not terribly optimistic. Instead of being a unifying event, the Obama presidency shook a lot of opposition out of the woods. It served more to divide the country than to bring it together. And the blow-back is only sharpening and deepening the divide.