Putting the Trump victory in a context

Donald Trump has won and a new dawn has begun, people must be wondering how the hell this happened. Well, this is how.

First, in recent times, across the world, from Brexit in the UK to Le Pen in France and now Trump in America, there has been a recent surge in “nationalist” and “anti-establishment” movements. I dare even say that if Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other Biafra movements, were allowed to contest elections in Nigeria, they would do very well in some states. The establishment has often failed to address core issues and have failed to listen to people at the grassroots for such a long time. Now, the “establishment” is paying the price, starting with the Western powers.

Second, it baffles me that the Democrats chose Hillary Clinton, who for long has been part of the establishment with relatively poor results (Libya, Syria, etc). A more credible candidate like Biden or Sanders would have blown Trump away, but they decided to appease Clinton and this is the result.

Third, people make this seem to be only about race.  While it is true that race played a major part as many “White supremacists” like David Duke supported Trump en masse, race is not the only factor. Clinton’s close affiliation with “Wall Street” was seen as corruption, especially by people in the rural areas who were losing jobs due to technology, as Wall Street significantly represents big businesses, her email investigation and her calling Trump’s voters a “bunch of deplorables” didn’t help either.

Also, it should be noted that one tenth of White people in the mid-west who voted Obama in the last election voted Trump this time.  Surely, not a simple change of mind? Clinton’s reputation surely did not help matters, race was only one of the many issues which helped Trump to the White House.

Again, many people who dreaded a Clinton presidency because they believe she would get her way most times irrespective of checks and balances, decided to vote Trump speculatively, believing that the Congress would effectively regulate any rash action(s) he tries to take. Let us hope this is the case because if it turns out otherwise, it would be dreadful. However, you can’t fault these people, blame the Democrats for their poor choice. I sincerely hope that this does not give the racists and bigots the voice they have longed for to persecute minorities. If that turns out to be the case, I hope all the minorities will stand strong and fight the oppression together and in four years, use the same power to drive Trump out.

• Oladapo Olaniyonu,

Reading,

United Kingdom.