Much of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign was premised on antipathy towards immigrants and promises to build a wall along the US- Mexico border. As we now know those sentiments resonated with a lot of voters. Some analysts and critics have speculated that the President-Elect’s rise was fueled by xenophobia and the fear of increased diversity. It is a fact that the country is becoming more diverse. According to the Pew Research Center by the year 2055, the U.S. will not have a single racial or ethnic majority. The Washington Post found that black and brown people are moving into towns and cities in the rust-belt and Midwest that have traditionally been predominately white. How will this influx of diversity shape the electorate in the coming years, and how will it affect the presidency of a man whose campaign was premised on the fear of immigrants?
In the 10 days after the election the Southern Poverty Law Center received almost 900 reports of harassment and intimidation from across the nation. Many harassers invoked Trump’s name during assaults, making it clear that the outbreak of hate stemmed in large part from his electoral success.
Dr. Sheri Parks is here to talk about diversity in the age of Trump in this month’s installment of Culture Connections. Dr. Parks is an Associate Dean for Research, Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Programming at the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland College Park, where she is also an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies. She’s the author of Fierce Angels: Living with a Legacy from the Sacred Dark Feminine to the Strong Black Woman.
