Literacy and electoral politics

I was heading to bed the other night but decided to stop for one last scroll of the night on TikTok. Sign of the times. Our incessant need to scroll. I came across a video from a creator whose political insights are always spot on, and he shared footage from a press conference in Michigan. A group of Muslim leaders who were endorsing former president Donald Trump. What I saw was so outrageous that I took a few minutes to do some probing and found out that it was in fact a real press conference that had just happened. To say I was incredulous would be an understatement.

To sum it up, several prominent Muslims leaders feel Trump wants peace in the Middle East, and Imam Belal Alzuhairi was quoted as saying “We, as Muslims, stand with President Trump because he promises peace—he promises peace, not war. We are supporting Donald Trump because he promised to end war in the Middle East and Ukraine.”

He what?

Are we talking about the same man who in 2017 wrote an executive order, 13769, commonly known as the Muslim travel ban—also known as the Muslim ban.

In case your memory is spotty—after all, it has been a few years, and the world has been spinning uncontrollably and it might be hard to remember—the order reduced the number of refugees allowed in the United States and effectively banned folks from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Iraq was originally included but dropped following criticism from the Iraqi government. The ban left hundreds in travel limbo and led to widespread protests at airports, including Boston’s Logan airport where my organization and affiliated Boston partners were on the ground to protest and assist.

By the way, this is the same guy who is embraced by white nationalists, neo-Nazis and others of that ilk. People who share a deep disdain for nonwhite people and especially brown folks from other places, like Muslims. Trump has never denounced his support from these people and essentially has co-signed their existence.

I am not an Arab American, and I won’t pretend to understand how the situation in Gaza sits in their souls. But as a Black American I do know it’s not right and I know that the Biden administration is choosing for whatever reason to not pressure Netanyahu to end this genocide nor are we stopping the flow of arms that makes it possible for Israel to continue its daily attacks on the Palestinians. The death counts are almost certainly an undercount and the suffering that we do see largely through social media accounts shows horrors that are beyond the pale. I also understand wanting it to end by any means necessary. But … trusting Trump?

Thus far, Kamala Harris is not giving any indication that she will chart a course much different than her boss, should she be elected, and her treatment of Palestinian Americans at the Democratic National Convention was not acceptable. As best as I can tell, Harris and her people are failing to grasp how big an issue this is for the Arab-American community and for many Americans. No doubt, the Trump team is trying to capitalize on the tensions but there is nothing about Trump that says he is to be trusted. His track record around the Muslim community both here and abroad is dismal.

Unlike Harris, Trump was a president, and he made it clear how he feels about nonwhite people, whereas Harris as a vice president has never had the authority to issue executive orders and essentially create widespread havoc. We can have a sense of who Harris might be as POTUS—we may not know for sure … but Trump?

 We know who he was in office and whether we are paying attention or not, he is telling us exactly who he will be as POTUS again. To quote the cover of the Sunday Opinion page of the Oct. 27 issue of The New York Times. Trump says he will prosecute his enemies, order mass deportations, use soldiers against citizens, abandon allies, and play politics with disasters.

Friends, in case you don’t know this, the things that Trump wants to happen under his next term are the hallmarks of fascism and a dictator.

It is quite popular on various social media platforms for some to say that there are no discernible differences between the candidates and that we are already in a fascist state. Stop. Words have meaning and while the ground is shaky and while there are clear signs that fascism is rapidly encroaching upon this democracy—especially considering The Washington Post and LA Times decided to not issue presidential endorsements this year (The Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns Amazon)—we are not there yet. However, if we don’t course-correct quickly, we might be fast-tracked to fascism.

I have struggled with understanding why so many people are confused about why this election is a little different and why there are stark differences between the candidates. It pains me to say that I am starting to think it really is about literacy in the United States. Both general literacy and media literacy.

As I have written in recent months—but let me be even more direct—the United States is increasingly a nation of functionally illiterate people where everyone is entitled to an opinion and a vote. But in a country where clear, accessible non-slanted news is harder to find, our votes have the potential to be weapons of our own self-destruction.

When we are so stressed that we rely on podcasts and social media to feed us, often without historical context, are we making informed decisions? How many of us throwing around the word fascism know what it means, and are aware of it in a historical context? How many of us know people who have direct connections to where fascism took hold? Because, just so we understand it, remember that in a truly fascist place, expressing dissent on public platforms is a great way to die or disappear.

When long-standing Republicans like Dick Cheney and others, including folks who worked directly with Trump, started coming out in droves to say that Trump cannot return to office, many left-leaning and progressive types online took it as a sign that Harris is problematic and doesn’t deserve to be in the White House.

No doubt, it’s strange to see some staunch career Republicans lining up to support Harris. It’s unsettling but I have lived long enough to understand that sometimes in life, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If the people who know Trump personally and who worked for him are telling us that he is exactly who he says he is and that they feel the country would be in deep danger under him, we would be wise to give pause and give consideration to their words. But in many cases that is not happening. There is almost a lack of survival instinct at play along with lack of literacy. As Jamelle Bouie notes in a recent piece, Mark Milley, John Kelly and Mark Esper are not holding back—ask yourself why.

These men were high-ranking officials in the Trump administration. They have gone public to tell us that Trump really is a wanna-be authoritarian. The guardrails around Trump have failed, in part because no one believed that he was truly capable of the mayhem he created and underestimated how much he could corrupt the Supreme Court itself. Our lack of literacy is leading to a level of cynicism that could very well deliver us all into the hands of a man hellbent on destruction, who has assembled a crew of oligarchs who are using him as the puppet to create the world they want.

Lack of literacy is no longer an individual problem; it is a societal problem in a country where we all have the right to use our voices to inform and shape our collective lives. Lack of literacy is what allowed Trump to emerge victoriously in 2016 and I fear it will deliver a win to him again. The shame isn’t in being illiterate—the shame is that as a society we aren’t doing enough to move the needle on literacy so that we can have an educated and informed electorate. Twenty-one percent of Americans are illiterate and 54% of Americans have a literacy below a sixth-grade level.

These numbers make it possible to understand why so many receive their news and facts from podcasts and social media—they can understand it, kind of. But it also means they are open to manipulation from unscrupulous actors. In a world where views and clicks are currency, I can assure you there is a reason my work has not blown up, but the Joe Rogans and Andrew Tates of the world inspire and move millions.

Much like Trump, they exploit the literacy gap, whether it is intentional or not, and should we move to a fascist regime, to paraphrase the late, great George Carlin: “The owners don’t want a well-educated workforce. Keep ‘em smart enough to operate the machines but not smart enough to ask questions.” Most certainly not smart enough to seek nuance in the answers. So, we need to address the literal literacy problem, and fast.

But even if you have a reading level that’s good, ask yourself if you are using enough intellectual literacy or whether you are just letting yourself be led by those who want your denigration and even destruction.


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