Trump Or Harris: Who Owns The Whiteness Of America?

This story was published as part of Outlook's 11 November, 2024 magazine issue titled 'Whitewash'. To read more stories from the issue, click here

“And how long will the American people stand for this treachery perpetrated by their elected president? How long will Americans remain asleep while their cherished Constitution is torn to shreds?”

— Philip Roth, The Plot Against America

How long will America build walls and make wars? How long before Americans realise that reproductive rights are, in fact, about the freedom of women and they must be free to make that choice?

It is almost sinister and now that we are thoroughly moored in this dystopian world where all promises that America made to itself and to the world have been turned upside down, it is no wonder that no matter which president comes and rules from the White House, it will be the whiteness that will reign. By whiteness, I mean many things.

I mean the monstrosity, actually.

We are in an age of moral bankruptcy where genocides are normalised. Palestinians continue to be killed. It has been more than a year of that war.

A man deemed liable for a sexual offence is a contender for the president’s office in America. Many cheer him as the one to “make America great again”, but a nation still debating abortion rights can’t claim greatness anytime soon.

Two years ago, the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade case, striking down the constitutional right to abortion established 50 years ago in this landmark judgement.

Donald Trump had claimed credit for it since he appointed the three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn it.

The other contender is a woman of colour, Kamala Devi Harris, who has positioned herself as the candidate backing reproductive rights. Harris said that Trump would bring in a federal ban on abortion if he becomes President. And she promised to restore the Roe v. Wade verdict, vowing federal protection for abortion rights.

But both have defended Israel’s multi-front war in the Middle East and neither support the “two-state” solution for Israel and Palestine.

While they may differ on how the war should end, they have both been quiet on the issue of the creation of a Palestinian state. All this while thousands continue to suffer in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine.

From here, we view America as the great saviour of democracy, as a country where everyone can make it, if they have it in them.

I first went to America in 2005 to study journalism at Syracuse University. My first assignment, covering evictions in a Black neighbourhood, shattered my illusions about America. Later, as a reporter in Utica, I covered stories of refugees resettling and the Black community’s struggle against racism.

But racism continues unhinged. Mass shootings are frequent and immigrants still don’t feel at home in America. There are many more issues, like homelessness. It is heartbreaking to see so many people without access to healthcare in America.

In recent American election campaigns, one recurring message is that the country is being taken advantage of and that its diversity is turning into a weakness.

I see this messaging getting stronger in India, too. And everywhere else.

The boundaries of possibilities are wider now. There are wars within and without and nothing comes close to encompassing that vast possibility than the American elections in 2024, when we are yet again on the verge of a global war. We are there because of mass paranoia that seems to be strategic.

We live in an age of dilemmas. Trump or Harris. Who owns the whiteness of America?

Is it all a whitewash?

In the Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 27, Trump promised that this will be America’s golden age.

It was his homecoming.

Earlier, singer Beyoncé endorsed Harris at a Texas rally and said it was time for America to sing a new song. Harris chose the singer’s song Freedom for her campaign. The song was also the anthem for the 2020 George Floyd protests.

“Freedom

Where are you?

‘Cause I need freedom, too

I break chains all by myself

Won’t let my freedom rot in hell

‘Cause a winner don’t quit on themselves,” Beyoncé sang. 

How long will the Americans keep quitting on themselves? 

This issue of Outlook looks at the US elections and its impact on the world and us and everyone else.

As women, as humans.

(This appeared in print as 'Freedom Where Are You?' To read more stories from the Outlook issue 'Whitewash' dated 11 November, 2024, click here)