Trump and Fox give it voice: Whites have it tough

It all depends on where you get your news.

I watched President Obama's speech in Dallas.   It was emotional, personal, and long.  I thought him calm and wise and compassionate and respectful.  

My brief comment today is that some media outlets saw a very different speech.  They saw a vicious hater busy stirring up hate.   Yes, I am talking about Fox News.  And Trump.

But first the broader media context, the "mainstream" news, shared my perspective, that it was a gracious speech of respect for the Dallas police and a call for empathy and understanding.

USA TODAY:    "President Obama hailed as heroes Tuesday the Dallas Police Department and the five officers slain last week in a gunman's rampage that rocked this city and the nation.   "When bullets started to fly, they did not flinch," Obama said at an emotional interfaith memorial service honoring the officers killed Thursday during a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration."

FORTUNE:  "President Obama delivered somber and emotional remarks Tuesday at a memorial service with the families of the five police officers killed in the recent sniper attacks in Dallas and other members of the Dallas community. He was joined by a bipartisan delegation that included former President George W. Bush. . . ."

CNN:  "President Barack Obama on Tuesday emotionally hailed the bravery of America's police forces at a memorial for five officers gunned down in Dallas, but warned the despair of minority communities who see the criminal justice system weighted against them must not be ignored.   In a soaring address, Obama said . . . ."

I could go on and on with a dozen others.

FOX:  "Caused severe psychological trauma"

Fox saw something different.

One after another of their on-air guests criticized Obama for stirring up racial resentments and fueling hatred for police.

Typically would be the following comment, in print on their website:

FOX:   "The president's visit to Dallas is mind-bending, because during his presidency he has sown the seeds of hatred for police officers.

The president arrives in Dallas having caused countless police officers severe psychological trauma.  He has put officers in the paralyzing position of defending the whole of our citizenry after he has methodically cleaved that citizenry into pieces. . . . "

The point that was reiterated and praised by most of the media was Obama's integration of respect and appreciation for the work and sacrifice of the Dallas police and simultaneously Obama's recognition of the echoes and persistence of America's history of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial prejudice.

Fox News does not recognize that second interwoven aspect. 

Click Here for the 2 minute O'Reilly segment

Bill O'Reilly:   "Raising the specter of slavery and Jim Crow gives the haters an excuse and fuels the grievance industry."

Obama said that which must not be uttered:   "We also note that centuries of racial discrimination, of slavery, and Jim Crow.  They didn't simply vanish with the end of lawful segregation.  They didn't just stop when Dr. King made a speech or the Voting Rights Act or the Civil Rights Act were signed."

Many readers will see the above paragraph as simple truth and reality.   Fox sees them as fighting words.

O'Reilly objected:  "Raising the specter of slavery and Jim Crow give the haters an excuse." Blacks need to forget and ignore prejudice, he said.   Besides, "White people have been the subject of bigotry as well."

There it is:  White grievance and resentment.  Donald Trump--and Fox--have given voice to a feeling that is out there in the body politic and which has become most salient under President Obama.  Establishment Republicans like the Bushes, Romney, Ryan, and McConnell could hint at it but dare not say it bluntly.   Trump said it, bluntly.

Many whites feel picked on, ignored, and disadvantaged.    Trump understands this feeling and said it and said it right out loud.  Not only did nothing terrible happen to him politically, he actually won votes and elections for daring to say it.   It wasn't politically correct.  It was what lots of Republican primary voters feel.   And others, Democrats and Independents.  Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin are now battleground states.  Blue collar Democrats hear Trump and like what they hear.

"White people have been the subject of bigotry as well"

America is changing and a great many people from all income demographics are uncomfortable with it.  They see "affirmative action" and resent it.  They see efforts to redress past wrongs and they perceive it as reverse discrimination and resent it.   They see Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the twenty and they resent it.

Newcomers to America from Latin America and Asia have darker skins than those of "white" Americans.  Their kids win spelling bees and National Merit scholarships and are school valedictorians.  The hard working ones take jobs.  The criminal ones steal and deal in drugs.  The lazy ones dip into the safety net resource.  They celebrate their own cultures in street fairs, some get their own language at call centers ("Press one for English"}, a few of them plot terror, and a great many of them vote.

Many white Americans feel that they are losing out, yet blacks and immigrants are the ones that are complaining about discrimination.  They even have their own president, an apologist and spokesman for black grievance.    It is actually white Americans who have the complaint, and at least Fox News and Trump say it aloud.

Racial protest and conflict help Trump's campaign because they move the focus of the election to racial resentment.  Racial resentment helps Trump more than Hillary.  It motivates white voters and racial strife demonstrate that whatever Obama and liberals have tried to do to cure things have not worked. Trump's intemperate style offends many people, including people who plan to vote for him, but his intemperance has upside for Trump.   It allows him to say what Fox News viewers want said:  white people have it tough, too.