Hillary Clinton: How to Be “Deplorable”

Hillary Clinton has rightfully taken criticism for calling half of all Donald Trump supporters “deplorable.” Last Friday evening, while battling a case of pneumonia, Clinton stated at a New York fundraiser,

We are living in a volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables … The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it. And, unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.

I am a minister at a fairly liberal church in Oregon. Hillary Clinton’s “grossly generalistic” comment speaks to deeply rooted fears among my people. The fact that Donald Trump can say deplorable things and gain momentum with a certain segment of the American population is not just deplorable; it’s scary.

Mocking a handicapped reporter?

Claiming Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eye, blood coming out of her … whatever.”

 Asserting that a Mexican American judge born in Ohio can’t be objective because of his Mexican heritage.

Denying to know and denounce white supremacist and controversial would-be politician David Duke.

Claiming a majority of Mexican immigrants are rapist, drug dealing criminals.

Stoking the flames of Islamophobia.

Those statements are deplorable. If my children were to make any of those comments, I would get them to a therapist ASAP.

But Clinton’s statement is also deplorable. It’s a case of classic scapegoating.

Scapegoats can be guilty of acting deplorably. They can be “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.” But for politicians to be “grossly generalistic” and put a segment of the population in “the basket of deplorables” doesn’t make our nation a better place.

It’s tempting to do because scapegoating gives us a sense of superiority, a quick boost of power and prestige. When Clinton said, “basket of deplorables,” the audience cheered. Scapegoating gives us a boost of power because it allows us to unite with others in knowing who the bad guys are – it’s those who live in the deplorable baskets.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump works his audience in the same way. What’s the easiest way for a politician manipulate an audience into cheering? Simply unite against a common enemy.

For example, let’s pretend that I think a co-worker is stupid. I say to other colleagues, “He belongs in the basket of stupids.” We have a quick chuckle because the phrase “basket of stupids” is pretty funny and because we all agree this co-worker is a little off. Well, soon the co-worker begins to realize, consciously or non-consciously, that he has been labeled stupid by the crowd. He will likely live into that role, but also become resentful that he’s been forced into the “stupid basket.”

My point isn’t to make a moral equivalency between scapegoating a “stupid colleague” and Trump’s race baiting and misogyny. My point is that turning against certain segments of the population isn’t what makes America great. Ever. It makes us deplorable.

Clinton is right. We are living in volatile times. The “deplorables” are afraid of the volatility of changing world, especially economic uncertainty. Those fears only intensify when they are ridiculed. Instead of mocking those fears by labeling people as “deplorable,” we would do better to understand those fears by listening.

That’s exactly what Arlie Hochschild did. A professor of Sociology at the University of California, Hochschild wrote an article for Mother Jones titled, “I spent 5 Years with Some of Donald Trump’s Biggest Fans. Here’s What They Won’t Tell You.” She reports they feel they’ve, “done everything right and [they’re] still slipping back.” The same article states that the “deplorables” feel shamed with “a sense of detachment from a distant elite with whom they had ever less contact and less in common.”

Clinton’s statement that these people are deplorable only adds to that sense of detachment. I want my president to be elite, but not elitist. We become elitist when we gain a sense of power and goodness by dividing the world into “us” against “them.”

Scapegoating not only gives us a sense of superiority over another, it also blinds us to the real problems that people face. We do need to stand against the deplorable injustices in our world. The fact is that people are being left behind by the economy. Instead of calling those people “deplorable,” I’d like to see policies that will help them during their economic hardships.

And let’s call out “deplorable” acts when we see it: The way Democrats and Republicans continue to steal Native American land is deplorable. Contaminated drinking water in poor, mostly African American communities is deplorable. The devastation wrought by American drones in the middle east is deplorable.

But in standing up against the deplorable injustices in the world, it’s important to not stand against our fellow human beings. When we do that, we lock ourselves in a deplorable rivalry where everyone loses. We would do better to seek creative ways to stand with them, not against them. As the letter to the Ephesians states, “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Image: Screeenshot from YouTube: half of Trump supporters belong in the ‘basket of deplorables.’

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