Did the election of Donald Trump represent the resurgence of racism as a critical factor in US politics? Fording (Univ of Alabama) and Schram (Hunter College) argue that the answer to this question is more complicated than early analysis suggests in their empirically grounded new work. ... This is a challenging, provocative work about a phenomenon that has become a core aspect of modern politics in the U.S. Highly Recommended.
CHOICE
[Hard White] makes a vital contribution to understanding where the political influence of Trump came from and, as a result, what we can expect to happen in the near future. ... Overall, Fording and Schram provide much-needed detail into the precursors of Trump and do so in a way that is well grounded in our broader understanding of social movements, voting behavior, attitude formation, and how information (and misinformation) is spread.
David A. M. Peterson and Mark D. Ramirez, Perspectives on Politics
The authors detail the ways in which they believe racism and white nationalism in the United States have changed in response to contemporary trends such as globalisation, immigration, and ethnic and racial diversi-fication. They suggest that white extremism has become more mainstream, encouraged in part by Donald Trump.
Survival: Global Politics and Strategy
[T]he authors' coverage of the literature and rigorous analysis of the public opinion data is comprehensive and accessible. The value of this text to social workers is that for macro social workers it underscores the value of political mobilisation that is justice orientated. Fording and Schram posit that in order to save democracy, we must defeat racism. This, in their view, requires an emphasis on mobilizing racial liberals rather than attempting to persuade racial conservatives and extremists. Further, they argue that being responsive to the mainstreaming of racism is to advance public policies that address the economic angst that makes racialised scapegoating effective, and to organise a coalition of racial liberals.
Ethics and Social Welfare
Fording and Schram produce a powerful and well documented case for how once marginal far-right, racist positions made their way to the heart of the Republican Party. This mainstreaming of racist discourse, they believe, successfully overshadowed material class interests, preparing the ground for victims of social retrenchment to become among its loudest advocates. Trump's success must be understood as the mobilization of racial resentment to undo the cultural and social change of the Obama years. Fording and Schram bring us closer to understanding how race and class interacted to produce the seducing and duping of so many American voters.
David Abraham, University of Miami School of Law
Fording and Schram deftly bring together theory and data on the Trump appeal in American politics. They argue and skillfully show that Trump captivated a large segment of white voters with his racial appeals against a range of minority groups. They show that Trump stoked this generalized outgroup hostility to gain votes while at the same time normalizing racism in American politics. A must-read.
Loren Collingwood, University of California, Riverside
For the past few years scholars and the lay public have struggled with how Donald Trump, backed by an army of white nationalists, secured the Oval Office in the wake of the first black president. In Hard White, Fording and Schram leave nary a stone unturned to explain why such a bigot successfully captured the White House. Outlining a theory of "outgroup hostility," Fording and Schram illustrate how racism became mainstreamed to such an extent that it actually helped win the White House, not lose it. The best among a slew of books that either anticipated Trump, or tried to explain his successful run after the fact, Hard White is a must-read for anyone interested in something beyond a speculative account of where the GOP is likely headed.
Christopher Sebastian Parker, University of Washington