After viewing the video titled “Democracy, White Supremacy, and the 2020 Election” I have been left with multiple takeaways. Professor Chris Beem delivers an analysis of democracy and white supremacy through the lens of the 2020 presidential election.
Beem begins with quoting a column from a Washington Post journalist, Jonathan Capeheart. Capeheart states that “what’s on the ballot is the choice between American democracy and white supremacy.” This leads into his main point of how this election was pivotal between democracy and white supremacy.
He explains how Donald Trump has frequently challenged and damaged race relations in the United States during his entire campaign and previous presidency. One of his biggest points that stuck with me was his explanation of Trump’s famous campaign quote “Make America Great Again.” This quote has harmful implications behind it because it expresses the belief that non-white Americans do not fit into traditional American values. He is expressing desire to go back to a time in the country where white Americans were extremely privileged above other races. The implications of this quote had the ability to cause harmful effects on race relations in the United States.
Beem then goes over data that explains the level of racial resentment held by white people in comparison to the candidate they supported in the 2016 presidential election. He explains that white people who had a high racial resentment overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump and those who held a low level of racial resentment voted for Hillary Clinton. This expresses how opinions about race have an extreme factor on how people will choose to vote. This also shows that Donald Trump has a negative effect on race relations because he is supported by many people that have strong feelings of racial resentment.
During the Republican National Convention, there was a black man who was shot by a police officer in Wisconsin. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden traveled to Wisconsin to speak about this incident, however, the implications of their responses are extremely contrasting. Biden took this opportunity to speak about police brutality against minorities and racial disparities in education, healthcare, and many other aspects in the United States. He also talks about systematic racism and the effects that it has on many citizens of this country. Trump, on the other hand, used his opportunity to deny the existence of systematic racism. He also expressed his disapproval of all people who were protesting racial disparities and referred to them as “thugs.” This again expresses how Trump has harmed race relations in the United States.
Overall, this video was extremely informative about events that occurred in the 2020 election. Beem does an excellent job of supporting his main point that this election was a turning point between white supremacy and American democracy. He explains throughout how Trump encourages white supremacy and had an extremely negative impact on race relations in the country through his actions, words, and beliefs. I really liked how he presented data about the 2020 presidential election to further exemplify his point. This video provided a lot of insight into the election, and I was able to gain more understanding of concepts that I had not before and further solidify existing opinions that I already held.