To the editor: “Here’s the hard truth of the last eight years: America leans at least as much toward white nationalism as it does toward democracy.”
Thank you, Erin Aubry Kaplan, for calling out the truth. Donald Trump’s alliances with white nationalists and David Dukes are what we saw in the first go-round. Should we expect better in a second Trump presidency? His defense of Jan. 6 would suggest his embrace of racists is stronger than ever. When Trump said “Black jobs,” during the debate, I so wanted someone to ask: “What jobs?” Non-white people have never been more than mere pawns to Trump.
Lynne Culp, Van Nuys
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To the editor: While I agree with much of what Kaplan writes, I believe she is mistaken to call this phenomenon white nationalism. It would be more correctly labeled as Christian nationalism or white Christian nationalism.
The Project 2025 manifesto follows Christian nationalist teachings and talking points. Proposing to change the Department of Health and Human Services to the “Department of Life” finds its origin directly in Christian nationalist writings and culture war teachings, the roots of which lie in Jerry Falwell and the “moral majority.”
I believe this battle to save the soul of our nation is about more than race alone. It is about total control through racism, sexism, bigotry, paternalism, and very importantly, a theocracy that finds justification for these positions.
The final step for proponents to fully install their agenda is Trump in the White House again. Coupled with the horrifying state of the Supreme Court, this would spell the end of our democratic republic. The Dems will have to, and must, mobilize voters in numbers greater than in any prior election.
Brett Ridpath, Brian Head, Utah
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To the editor: Kaplan writes an honest article about the Democratic Party and why it can’t call out white nationalism — afraid of tarnishing the Heartland. Timothy Egan wrote a spellbinding book “A Fever in the Heartland” that follows the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana and other states in Middle America during the 1920s.
People who joined the Klan were members of the clergy, officers, politicians, judges and more. It was run by fear. Everyone should read Egan’s book and see the parallels to what is happening now, as history is repeating itself.
Muriel Harkins, San Luis Obispo
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To the editor: No question about it, the most fraught presidential campaign in U.S. history constitutes an unprecedented national embarrassment. But how did this year’s election come to pose such an existential threat to our very democracy?
While numerous explanations have appeared in opinion pieces since the surreal Biden-Trump debate, Kaplan’s superb op-ed surely provides the most prescient take. She cites toxic white nationalism as the shield Trump wields to deter direly needed focus on his blatant unfitness for reelection. It leaves Democrats feeling damned if they do and damned if they don’t directly attack that shield.
Mustering the courage to rail against Trump’s white nationalist cover will compel Democrats to confront the veritable Achilles’ heel of democracy: The ballot of every low-information voter counts the same as that of every well-informed voter. Would that the odds weren’t so stacked in Trump’s favor.
Devra Mindell, Santa Monica
