2020 has brought with it a chaotic mix of civil unrest, forest fires, a record hurricane season, a pandemic and contentious presidential election have added to the anxiety levels of ethnic and religious minorities.
This isn’t a story about white male rage. Though this year has seen a lot of it.
That’s from a protest at the state capitol this Spring. Michiganders unhappy with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s pandemic emergency orders showed up to vent their anger without masks but with guns.
“They're trying to steal your guns. Okay? That's number one. If you don't realize that, then you're about to be a victim.”
That’s Brandon Caserta, one of several men charged in federal court in the terrorist plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer.
Again, this isn’t a story about white male rage.
This is a story about anxiety.
When that news broke, it just couldn't like I turned to my husband I said this is this is confirming my worst fears.”
Mary Blair lives in Ferndale with her husband Rael and their two kids. For the history teacher, the past four years have been unnerving.
“All of a sudden the criticism of a president being against, you know, his political ideologies, somehow makes you not American somehow makes you unpatriotic and that's a very dangerous and slippery slope in my opinion.”
Blair is liberal in her beliefs and for her, the prospect of another four years under President Trump has her questioning everything.
“We have some neighbors that are close to us and they are Canadian, and they have provided us with some immigration lawyer information. This is still within the United States, but we have looked into maybe moving off the mainland to someplace like Hawaii”
Blair and her husband are white. Their two adopted children are Black. They understand they have the privilege and the money to move.
That’s not the case for those traditionally most affected by institutional inequality.
“From the economic policies of Trump to decreasing regulations within the EPA. We know that environmental justice issues strongly overlap and correlate with communities of color immigrant communities as well.”
City Councilmember Raquel Castaneda-Lopez represents Southwest Detroit – a spot with large Latinx and immigrant populations. It’s also home to some of the city’s biggest polluters. She says election unease is nothing new.
“Every single election cycle marginalized people, people of color, black and brown people always have their guard up because historically have had to protect and fight for, and so this election in a way it's no it's no different, right? Your kind of fighting the same dragon we've been fighting for decades and for generations.”
The US Census Bureau estimates white people will be a minority by 2045.
So, Castaneda-Lopez relates to why many Trump voters might feel threatened.
“The flip side the pro Trump folks are thinking, you know, they're going to their sense of identity and their way of life is going to be taken away.”
Pew Research estimated that 88-percent of Trump’s supporters are white.
Of course, that still leaves 12-percent.
“The Muslim community is not monolithic. We have people who are far too progressive less than people who are who are conservatives. There's people in the Muslim community who voted for Trump in this in the personal election, and there probably who will vote for him for a second term.”
Dawud Walid is the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
He says those votes for President Trump will come, despite one of his first actions.
“It's been a rocky road for Muslims in the past four years. The first Executive Order of the President of the United States of America was the Muslim travel ban. Literally his first act was targeting Muslims.”
President Trump has not committed to a peaceful transfer of power and has made baseless accusations of voter fraud.
“Well, we’re gonna have to see what happens. I have been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”
Walid says statements like that could lead to civil unrest, and that worries him.
“What type of violent reactions that could take place on the streets in which the people could take up arms. I’ve heard this concern from people in our community.”
Though for this election, that fear crosses many boundaries.
“It doesn't matter really what your affiliation is, if you're Democrat, Republican, independent, whatever. People just sense that there is a tension and they want to come in and be prepared.”
Rob Davis owns Harry’s Army Surplus in Dearborn. He says it’s been a banner year for his shop, although the type of equipment being sold has changed in the past few months.
“The pandemic was more preparing for home and hunkering down. And this is more now for defensive purposes. And just protection. I guess protection is is the main word.”
Protection for Detroiter Chad King means carrying a gun.
“As African Americans, particularly those of us who decided to be self-determined and be empowered and be responsible for our own safety and the safety of our families, we don't acquire firearms or seek training or seek licensing, to create violence or to propagate violence. We seek to do those things to prevent a violence that is already present.”
King is a co-founder of the Black Bottom Gun Club. Membership in that group and the National African-American Gun Association has expanded dramatically this year. Of the 5 million first-time gun buyers this year, 58% were black. Why now?
“We see that a veil has been lifted. The things that were covert now appear to be more overt, especially when we talk about racism and incidents of racism and, you know, systemic depictions of what racism is and what it looks like.”
The United States is just a few decades removed from passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Chad King says he will vote to fight inequality. He says he carries a gun to prevent the violence already present, but he won’t use it to fight racism.
“I don't believe that overcoming racism is incumbent upon the person who is experiencing racism. That's not on us. That's not on me. Right? it's incumbent on the person who has racist ideology to overcome their racist ideology.”
Generations of systemic racism means people of color and immigrants are often worried. A presidential election just adds to the baseline of anxiety.
In the end, this is a story of white male rage. That group has the privilege to be anxious about something else.