20/02/2016 – Saturday
A report published by the Southern Poverty Law Center that has been well covered by the media, makes disturbing reading. It states that 2015 may have been the most volatile year the United States has seen since 1968. Mark Potok, author of the report, has said “Last year was an incredibly dramatic year, marked by very high levels of political violence, genuine growth of hate groups and a level of hate speech in mainstream politics that we have not seen in decades”.
The concern seems to be about the rise in number and membership of white supremacy group and militias or hate groups. Potok tries to explain this: “The bulk of that anger is coming from beleaguered working-class and, to a lesser extent, middle-class white people, especially the less educated — the very same groups that most vociferously support Trump,” Potok writes. “They are angry over the coming loss of a white majority (predicted for 2043 by the Census Bureau), the falling fortunes of the white working class, worsening income inequality, the rise of left-wing movements like Black Lives Matter, major advances for LGBT people, growing numbers of refugees and undocumented workers, terrorism, and more.”
It seems to me that Donald Trump and others are the new Grand Old Duke of York who will probably leave his followers at the top of the hill. Remember this in Northern Ireland?
Here is a link to a Yahoo News item that includes an interview with Potok.