The election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of USA has brought forth many of inconsistencies within this nation state. Primary among them is the white-identity driven definition of the nation-state where whites as an ethnic group are fast becoming a minority. The sad events that unfolded in Charlottesville, Virginia bear testament to this inconsistency.
Whereas the new found white supremacy assertiveness under the Trump administration was the primary theme that played out in the unfortunate events at Charlottesville, the fact that it evolved in the context of the USA civil war brings forth the corollary – do the blacks in USA have a space and purpose in the national life. White supremacy automatically invokes the black separatism that has long been simmering ever since the days since the civil war. Black separatism has followed a steady course since the days of the civil rights movement and seeks to establish a sovereign black homeland in the very regions that kept blacks under slavery in southern USA states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida.
To add to these two centrifugal forces of white supremacy and black separatism playing out in the southern USA, there are the ever growing demands of Chicano separatism, Latino separatism and the Mexican Reconsquista movements in the Southwestern states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and California. These movements seek retribution for the continuing injustices meted out to the Spanish speaking and indigenous populations of Southwestern USA.
Moving further up the western coast of the USA, with the election of Donald Trump, the Cascadian independence movement has seen a comeback with secession referendums being planned in Oregon. The Cascadian movement reflects the typical liberal and left leaning ideology of the Pacific Northwest of USA and its disenchantment with the politics run out of Washington DC. This movement works towards establishing a new nation of Cascadia comprising of the states of Oregon, Washington and the Canadian state of British Columbia.
Coming to the heart of USA, in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas a number of movements related to white supremacy, radical libertarianism, and Christian fundamentalism come forth, sputter along and wait for the opportune moment to disengage from the nation state of USA. The common streak running across these movements is the view that the nation state of USA is corrupted beyond redemption and the seeds of a pure and just nation state will be sown by the respective movements in their areas of operation. President Donald Trump commands a great following among these fissiparous groups and might inadvertently promote their goals in his quest to make USA great again.
The interesting fact to note is that most of these regions with separatist movements were added to the USA over the last two hundred years. The logic and compulsions that bound these distinct regions into the USA seem to be on the ebb. For the most part these regions were added to the USA by genocidal expansion, war and outright purchase. The uncertainty and polarization that Trump brings to the identity of nation state of USA gives impetus to these separatist movements and may result in its breakup.
This article is syndicated from Airopya Vishleshanaa Kendra (AVK)