Urban vs. Rural Cultural and Political Divide

[yovargas]

I didn't really want a separate thread for the whole Russian thing as I don't think it's really conducive to conversation here. I only brought it up as part of the ongoing conversation of trying to understand the current divide in American politics, which is why it was in the Trump's America thread....

[RoseMorninStar]

Rural populations tend to be more homogeneous than urban populations. LGBTQ populations tend to be more closeted in rural areas. Fear of 'other' is stronger in rural areas and certain media outlets (like FOX news) stoke that fear, that divide. I cannot believe the words I've heard coming from some people.. about how 'we' (white people) will be in the minority if we don't 'do' something about 'them' (black/brown people). That is what the wall is all about. Trump doesn't really care about the wall. He hires illegals. He hasn't even spent a fraction of the money he already has for the wall.. it's the fear of 'other' that he is marketing. That's something he's good at it, he understands how easy it is to manipulate people by fear and it's working.


To paraphrase from this article from VOX, with the election of a black president (Obama) rural America could no longer ignore the 'browning of America' and it turbo-charged racial divides.

[Maria]

Hollywood has been promoting fear of rural people/places for generations.

[Frelga]

Sure, there are the children of the corn tropes. There are also the tropes of good, honest country folks, and warm-hearted small towns, and the corrupting influence of big cities on the innocents, and urban jungle, and...