Sam Gosda
Response 2 of 5: Trump May Have America, But the City is Still Ours
In this relatable article author David Wallace-Wells depicts the effects of the 2017 presidential election on New York City. He accurately describes the worries of the city and the nation. In the article, New York City is described as an asylum in both the context of a safe-haven and a mental institution. I could not in a million years think of a better word to describe it. Historical as well as current events were used to back up the description of the city and the grief being felt by its inhabitants upon the election of Donald Trump. Wallace-Wells used language that made me want to read more. I related to what was being written and the rhetoric made me agree with every point being made. The city would be both a moving force in the resistance against Trump as well as the reason a white supremacist could be elected into office in the first place.
When Wallace-Wells described his and his wife’s experiences on election day and on the following days of the results I felt as if I went back in time to that moment. I felt as if I were reading a book; an emotional novel that described my feelings about the 2017 presidential election. It made me recall exactly the moment my mother told me Donald J. Trump was the President of the United States of America. I recall exactly when I became nervous to be a woman in America. I recall exactly when I got the urge to move to Canada. I recall exactly braking down over the break down of my American dream. All of this came back to me because of Wallace-Well’s sincerity and tact. He put his exact emotions on the page to be read as he wrote “It was a hard night. I don’t think I slept, just cried through the early-morning hours with my eyes closed” (Wallace-Wells). He also made he recall all the reasons I am proud to be a New Yorker. We are a community of everything from drug lords to philanthropists. Wallace-Wells explains that this kind of diversity in character “makes for a very particular kind of tolerance. We tolerate living around bad guys doing bad things, in part because we can always tell them to fuck off. And often do.” This is the asylum in both natures. The insanity of comfortably living amongst criminals and the sanctuary of being able to live comfortably even amongst criminals. The madness also comes from the diversity. The ever changing society leads to an environment in which “no one can ever feel quite comfortable or secure, no matter how royally statused…No one is immune to insecurity, not the sons of tycoons or the daughters of mayors or the offspring of artists and musicians raised as downtown royalty on lower Fifth Avenue” (Wallace-Wells) or Donald Trump in office. The election seemed to be the end of the tolerant society we were in the process of building, but not even the President can be confident that he will be accepted in the city. No one can be and the resistance against him will never let him think otherwise.
The diversity depicted by David Wallace-Wells is exactly the diversity I see everyday. It’s the diversity that makes it impossible to accurately describe New York City and impossible to say what is “American” in culture. Wallace-Wells talked of the magnificent deal made by Peter Minuit of New Amsterdam to buy the island for 24 dollars in 1626. A dutchman starting the city, however, Wallace-Wells pointed out the fact that “Nobody knows any Dutch, which meant nobody has really come first, when you think about it, which means nobody really owns the city, even the obscenely rich who talk like they do.” This is the exact point we conclude to every single time we meet as a class. No one race owns the city, no one culture can describe the city, and no one ideal can rule the city.
Questions:
Donald Trump is from the city himself yet he does not share the ideals of the diversity that runs through the streets. How could the message of diversity be spread to more New Yorkers?
Since Donald Trump was voted into office against the popular vote does that mean the majority of cities or even states felt the same way as New York City about the results?
How could we as a city send a message to Trump that would accurately describe our fears on what could happen to our nation under the persona that he has worn?
