Anthony G. Martin

The verity of Donald J. Trump’s popularity with many in this nation should not come as a surprise.

There are scores of people who have been made to feel as though they have been painted into a corner by forces — real or imagined — that are beyond their control. Mr. Trump, being the arrogant mastermind of situational exploitation and grandiose self-promotion, has managed to effectively prey upon the fears of those who have harbored aversion of those they deem to be unlike them.

The fanaticism being displayed at Trump rallies clearly indicates the efficacy of Mr. Trump’s bravado and superfluous vitriol, with his conjuring of doomsday scenarios in which only he, in his chevalier gallantry, can save his impuissant minions.

All of this hostile bombast creates an illusion for his followers that America is impotent and anemic.

The problem with this country is not weakness. The problem with this country is mismanagement by those who favor the status quo and a capitalistic economic infrastructure that bespeaks lack of compassion for those in the lower echelons of American society.

When you combine an increasingly beleaguered group of people — many of whom have a minimal amount of formal education — with religious hysteria, xenophobia, bigotry, threats of Islamic extremism and the systemic oligarchical dominance of wealth and white privilege, then you have the makings of a Hitler-esque, Third Reich-type of crusade.

Mr. Trump has deftly tapped into the desperation of those who have clung to their deeply rooted convictions and ideology like an infant to a pacifier. Draconian nationalism, wall building, marginalization of other cultures and gunboat diplomacy is not in the best interests of this country. It only manages to isolate and sequester us from the world.

The United States still has a lot to answer for, particularly in the realm of civil rights. The continued violence, disenfranchisement and mistreatment of people of color, those of non-Christian beliefs, the LGBTQ community, women and others underscore the appalling history of a white male-dominated society.

Nevertheless, in spite of its malfeasance over the course of its existence, this country has the potential to vanquish many of the abhorrent and contemptible elements of its legacy. Once we recognize that each of us is an essential part of the human thread, then our potential for creating a nation that is upright, caring and equitable for all is limitless.

Regardless of who your God might be, we are all inextricably linked by the universal principle of “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

However, we cannot delude ourselves by becoming Pollyanna-ish about the healing of a nation. It will take an unprecedented amount of goodwill, hard work, dedication, foresight and sacrifice of the attachments to the limiting and prejudicial convictions that have shackled us within the confines of negligence and mediocrity. And it is going to require an extraordinary amount of courage for us to be completely honest with ourselves about the injustices we have inflicted upon ourselves and others.

But I believe that if we are committed to the concept of a free and just society, then there is nothing that we as a nation can’t accomplish. Only then will we be able to truly declare our nation as being free and great.

The writer is a former intern at Richmond Hill ecumenical community in Church Hill.