Understanding Trump’s Appeal in Rural America

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/opinion/letters/trump-rural-america.html

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To the Editor:

Re “In the Land of Self-Defeat,” by Monica Potts (Sunday Review, Oct. 6):

Ms. Potts’s article about her small town in Arkansas fits into a genre of reporting that has flourished since the 2016 election in which sympathetic writers, often raised in Trump country, attempt to explain why people in rural America vote against their interests. Often these are written by people who themselves left these places because they were too small, too conservative and too narrow-minded.

In her effort to elicit an empathetic response from readers, Ms. Potts focuses on her subjects’ belief in self-reliance, hostility toward the city and conviction that they have to rely on themselves. Yet she neglects a very important fact. The rural conservative white voters who support Mr. Trump and are so opposed to federal spending often live in states that receive far more than their share of federal funds, especially in relation to those states with larger urban populations.

They don’t really oppose federal spending. They oppose federal funding for black people and others in cities. Perhaps if they were serious in their belief in self-reliance, they would vote to reject the federal funds that come to their state, and it could be used better in states that want it.

Paul C. MishlerSouth Bend, Ind.The writer is an associate professor of labor studies at Indiana University South Bend.

To the Editor:

Monica Potts, thank you! This was an excellent piece with good depth of cultural context.

Some towns exude an enthusiasm, a “can do” sense of gratitude, a belief that their cup is at least “half full” and a welcome to all people of their town to share in that “half-full” abundance. They remind me of an old Danish proverb, “Where there is heart space there is house space.”

Other communities are notable for complaining of cups “half empty,” and it’s someone else’s fault. People in such communities exhibit an almost bubbling anger, chips on their shoulders and deep rivers of blame or exclusion.

Our entire nation is being bullied by our president into a sense of “half empty,” with so many points of blame. This article will hopefully lead some readers to recognize their lack of gratitude and their responsibilities in a democracy.

Martha BerrymanAustin, Tex.The writer is a retired cultural anthropologist.

To the Editor:

I’ve been earnestly trying to understand the Trump supporter ever since Donald Trump announced his candidacy. I’ve heard all the theories — people were hurting, they thought he would help them — but I never really “got it” until I read Monica Potts’s article.

I felt very depressed by the time I finished it because I now feel that Mr. Trump will win again. At least I now know why.

Audrey TillmansSt. Charles, Ill.

To the Editor:

Opinion pieces such as “In the Land of Self-Defeat” attempting to paint a description of the urban-rural divide do nothing more than increase that divide. In the past 10 years I have lived in five states, in cities, towns and now finally a rural county of about 15,000. Now that I live in a rural county, I am more curious to understand how people view areas such as mine.

The New York Times has a responsibility to report the truth accurately. While some people do hold such thoughts as those described in the article, running articles on this divide every few months describing a new rural location with the same “backward beliefs” does a disservice to all Americans. People in rural areas feel they are being misrepresented.

For urbanites who will never visit rural areas, such articles are their only exposure, and they’re not a complete picture.

Kjersten OudmanMineral Point, Wis.

To the Editor:

Monica Potts’s article about Clinton, Ark., was outstanding. It managed to evoke a clear sense of the attitudes among the people there who voted for Donald Trump. I could not help but make the connection with the piece written by Richard V. Reeves, “Now the Rich Want Your Pity, Too,” on the same page. Rich, poor and even those in between, so many Americans express self-pity rather than a sense of optimism and ambition.

My grandfather, who came to this continent on a boat, alone, from Liverpool, England, at the age of 9, and my father, who studied at night and worked so hard to escape the shoe factory system of mid-20th-century America, would both not understand such self-pity.

I want to thank these two writers for helping me understand why the supreme crybaby of them all is now in the White House.

Jim SuttonAndover, Mass.The writer is a retired librarian.

To the Editor:

In one important aspect people in rural America are no different than those in urban America. We all tend to react to events and elections as positive or negative depending on how we think they affect us, particularly financially. I’m sure the article accurately depicts what is happening in rural America, and it’s unfortunate, even sad. I think the bigger question is: “Does anyone care, and how do we fix the problem?” Do we want rural America to continue to die?

I believe that the answer is a Marshall Plan to bring jobs and higher education to rural America. I’d like to see each of the Fortune 500 companies incentivized to adopt a few rural counties. This would include putting new offices or manufacturing in the county, plus a junior college extension with the goal of developing and employing local talent. To encourage the Fortune 500 to take this action, the federal and local governments could offer tax incentives and donated land.

Do we want to save rural America or not?

Larry PageSonoma, Calif.The writer is not the co-founder of Google who shares his name.

To the Editor:

Monica Potts’s ultimately very sad article is clear proof that we should stop trying to win over (or perhaps even empathize with) the Trump voters in her hometown. We must stop obsessing over them and simply defeat them.

Why try to win over people who believe that urban professionals (many of whom work over 60 hours a week) are lazy, people who disdain values like education that improve all our lives?

We cannot allow such people to distract the rest of us from building a better future. They will not determine the next election unless we, who are the majority of Americans, allow ourselves to be misled. We can only hope that their children or grandchildren, for their own sake, will eventually join us.

Gail GoldeySanta Fe, N.M.

To the Editor:

I also grew up in a small town. My elementary school was just down the hill from the red brick public library. We went there once a week and were given time to choose three books to take home until the next visit. These trips delighted us. They opened our eyes, our minds and our souls.

I was saddened by the views related in Monica Potts’s article. Reading it, I was reminded of Toni Morrison’s beautifully written novel “Home,” in which she describes a fictional town with “its unforgiving population, its isolation and especially its indifference to the future.”

Adults who love books were once children who were allowed to discover them. This is as indispensable to the health of our country as good nutrition. It is not a luxury.

Maria T. von WaldowVienna

To the Editor:

This article cut to the heart of the conundrum that exists in rural America. As Monica Potts writes, rural Southerners in particular reject government policies and programs that would benefit them. It brings to mind the tense and often violent clashes between the black and white tenant farmers in the Jim Crow era. These two groups had the same needs, but the white landowners did all they could to drive them apart.

President Trump’s policies likewise encourage antagonism, anger and divisiveness in rural communities, making it difficult for productive conversations to take place between the even moderate Democrats and these staunch Trump supporters.

Rebecca ChappellMemphis