Fascination with an anthropological analysis of the Trump supporter is not new as it has been a source of curiosity for journalists from CNN’s Van Jones to New York Times columnist Tom Friedman.

Nonetheless, the reason for what motivates Trump voters may not be as elusive as some would like to make it. 

The recent column by Tom Friedman concludes that humiliation is the prominent reason for their support and subsequently suggested that we should find a way to respect and treat this segment of the population with dignity. The more interesting aspect of his column however, is an acknowledgment that these voters seem to believe that Trump hates the same people they hate. 

In articulating his theory, Mr. Friedman quotes the late president of South Africa Nelson Mandela who stated  “There is nobody more dangerous than one who has been humiliated.” 

When Mr. Mandela made this statement he was speaking of a people whose humiliation stems from being denigrated, abused, murdered, imprisoned, and disenfranchised. When it comes to humiliation, Mr. Freidman knows all too well that Asian Americans who were excluded from certain areas during WWII and placed in internment camps suffered humiliation.  Native Americans experienced humiliation as their treaties were consistently violated by the government. To be fair to Mr. Friedman, it is not the first time that he has indicated humiliation as a motivating factor. In his 2005 seminal book “The World is Flat” he writes about young Arabs who feel humiliated because they are forced to live in an Israeli imposed system of apartheid.

In this case, however, the diagnosis of humiliation doesn’t seem to fit. 

Are we to equate the supposed humiliation encountered by Trump voters with John Lewis as he crossed the Edmund Pettis bridge or encountered by Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner who were murdered while they fought for voting rights?

Maybe we should compare it to the humiliation faced by Jews in Europe which led to the final solution. Perhaps its the humiliation of harassment faced by Muslims  (or those who were seen as Muslim) after 911 including lies by the present president about seeing Muslims celebrate.

Maybe we should understand their humiliation in the same sense that women encountered sexual harassment for centuries.

Let us deal with the issue of humiliation for a moment. While Trump supporters are not monolithic as it pertains to their economic standing or education level, the question must be asked who are we speaking about within that circle. Is it the Charlottesville marchers who chanted “Jews will not replace us “, the QAnon supporters, or the growing membership and supporters of white supremacist groups such as the proud boys which the FBI director has deemed as the most threatening of groups in America?

Are Mormons, who until a few decades ago taught they “shall be a white and a delightsome people,” humiliated? Let’s not forget that until the 1970s, LDS Church theology prohibited black men from becoming priests while Blacks, in general, were denied participation in important rituals in the  Morman church. Despite his humiliation of their favorite son Mitt Romney, Mormons voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

If we are to consider humiliation as legitimate then the reason for it becomes critically important. It may stem from a belief that their sense of superiority has been challenged by groups that they have long believed to be inferior to themselves. If humiliation is to be considered, it has to be taken as a symptom of a much more serious condition.

In the sports world, you may recall the comments made by Fuzzy Zoeller towards Tiger Woods as he won his first Masters tournament. As we think about the racist comments made by Romanian TV host Radu Bancui about Serena Williams, let’s not forget how Jackie Robinson was treated when he became the first black major league baseball player.

In the world of entertainment whenever legendary actress and singer Lena Horne appeared in movies her scene had to be cut out in theaters in the south.

In the world of politics, when Barack Obama ran for reelection people  showed up to Mitt Romney rallies wearing a keep the white in the White House T-shirts or the South Carolina State representative Kris Crawford who said that it is “good politics to oppose the black guy in the White House.”

In the academic world, the infamous Yale informal agreement to limit the enrollment of Jews and others is memorialized by the instructions  of Yale Dean Milton Winternitz’s “ Never admit more than five Jews, take only two Italian Catholics, and take no blacks at all.”

Can it be that we are overlooking the obvious?  Perhaps as Freud allegedly stated “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”

Perhaps the issue is not humiliation but an extreme and total disdain for a period of time when leaders can be something other than white evangelical Christian Republican males.  As mentioned, Mr. Friedman does espouse the notion that Trump hates the same people his supporters hate so perhaps the issue is not one of humiliation but a clear agreement with the ideas and rhetoric espoused by the present administration. Perhaps the reason is the xenophobia, Muslim hating, gay-bashing, racial animus that has been overtly proclaimed through thought, word, and deed.

Whether because of ignorance or disregard for history, there is a significant percentage of the nation that will vote for Trump no matter what he says or does. Impeachment, violation of the emoluments clause, trying to stop people from voting, tax evasion, bank fraud, embracing authoritarian and totalitarian governments, downplaying the severity of Covid-19, will not deter their support.

The question of what drives the Trump supporter may indeed be an important question but the diagnosis by Mr. Friedman is wrong. The issue of xenophobia, racism, and misogyny should not be a surprise nor overlooked. These are themes and theologies that have been promulgated subliminally and overtly through cultural entities, institutions, and law for hundreds of years. The idea that they would magically dissipate within one generation is highly pollyannaish. 

If you boil the reason down to mere humiliation, which can be mitigated by respect and dignity, it would be the easiest and innocuous reason to accept for their undying devotion and sometimes cult-like admiration of him.  Unfortunately, we are faced with a more insidious set of reasons which if ignored would bring us closer to the thesis of Carl Rowan’s 1996 seminal book “The Coming Race War” 

The coming election will provide a clear indication of the depth of the trend of Trumpism and the length to which they will go to keep him in office. Misdiagnosis of this trend will have grave consequences for this nation.

Strangely enough, the Trump supporter loves this nation but it’s the America they imagine which is problematic.