Why Do Gen Xers Support Trump Despite His Racism?
Gen Xers were raised on the mentality that the Civil Rights Act ended racism in the U.S. and were convinced we shouldn’t talk about it
Talking to Generation X, most will act as if our generation was a benevolent one. They speak as if racism didn’t exist and pretend that things were better in that regard. But they weren’t. During our time we witnessed former President Bill Clinton sign two very racist pieces of legislation into law: the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (1994 Crime Bill) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA).
The 1994 Crime Bill is a bill that created funding incentives to entangle people into the net of the criminal justice system. The legislation came on the heels of the crack epidemic and was used to disproportionately incarcerate Black people for excessive prison sentences on drug charges. Police used the new powers to target Black communities despite drug use being about the same among every race. Many families and communities were destroyed by the law.
Similarly, the IIRIRA criminalized many aspects of immigration. Constitutionally protected rights such as due process were eliminated from most cases and expanded aggravated felonies…
