Throughout US history, there's been a white backlash in response to racial progress, including the election and re-election of Obama (and policies like DACA). Still, I had convinced myself that the electoral map was favorable enough that Clinton would win. In spite of the FBI's interference, in spite of voter suppression, in spite of millions of people subscribing to patently false beliefs, in spite of a pathetic media that promotes false equivalencies and only cares about ratings, in spite of it being rare for the same party to control the White House for more than 2 consecutive terms.
But I've never been under the illusion that the US is post-racial. And anyone who thought we were is ignorant beyond belief. The denial of racism (as well as sexism) and white privilege is a constant. As I pointed out in my essay, Tim Wise writes, "Indeed, as far back as 1963, before there was a Civil Rights Act to outlaw even the most blatant racial discrimination, sixty percent of whites said that blacks were treated equally in their communities. In 1962, only eight years after the Brown decision outlawed segregation in the nation’s schools (but well before schools had moved to integrate or equalize their classrooms), a stunning eighty-four percent of whites were convinced that blacks had equal educational opportunity. In other words, white denial of the racism problem is nothing new: it was entrenched even when this nation operated under a formal system of apartheid."
I encourage folks to get deeply involved in local racial justice organizations in your area. And educate yourself on oppression theory, structural inequality as opposed to individual attitudes, white privilege, etc. Where I live there's a branch of the NAACP, numerous immigrant rights organizations, a Racial Justice Organizing Committee, and so on.
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