Some political figures truly embody the classic role of the divider; their purpose seems to be to agitate and provoke, to instigate conflict rather than mediate peace. Al Sharpton and Nancy Pelosi come to mind. Let’s not forget John McCain or Lindsay Graham. Barack Obama was known as the “great divider” for much of his presidency. While many leftists would argue that Donald Trump is the “most divisive” president in generations, I think the mainstream media has proven far more provoking than he has. In the case of Charlottesville, we see a whole host of individuals and institutions seeking to promulgate continued social tensions well beyond anything Trump has done. One of these individuals is Joe Biden.
In a short essay for The Atlantic, Joe Biden was quick to capitalize on the death of a protester in Charlottesville at the hands of an apparent white nationalist, spewing forth a host of cliches on “dark forces” creeping out from the hidden corners of America to smother the light and happiness of the silent Kumbaya majority like some kind of J. R. R. Tolkien novel.
This narrative is nothing new. It is the narrative that was promoted throughout the 2016 presidential election cycle as well as the Brexit debate in the U. K. – the notion that dangerous and “ignorant” portions of the citizenry in western society (labeled “populists”) are quietly organizing for a last stand against the “inevitable evolution” of progressive multiculturalism and globalism. They are presented as the throwbacks, the cave people, the Cro-Magnons, the people who refuse to get with the times and embrace the social justice revolution. They are, according to gatekeepers like Biden, in the way.
This post was published at Alt-Market on Wednesday, 30 August 2017.
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