Opinion: The subtle foreshadowing of white supremacy winning over democracy

There’s a recent trend on TikTok that I can’t stand. It’s called subtle foreshadowing. The videos will start and suddenly show the end result in a fast edit, flashing two or three times more. I find the temporal displacement disturbing. 

This is what the presidential election results feel like.

There were flashes, and short edits foreshadowing the result. Was it even possible for a Black and Asian American woman to be elected as president? 

Claims that it was the economy, not her race or gender may be the case for some, but for Trump’s base, it is undoubtedly the white supremacy showing in flashes of Nazi flags, Trump flags and confederate flags. It is the “f_ you Mexicans” tagged along the glass of the metro elevator at LA Union Station. 

I noticed that tag last week. How long has it been there?

How long has the hate and racism been hiding? It’s been there all along. 

And let's not forget the Latinos who would not, could not vote for a woman of color, because of racism, colorism and anti-Indigeneity that is also a part of Latin American history, as well as the toxic machismo proudly displayed by the former and now incoming president. 

There is also the matter that Kamala Harris wasn't moderate enough for some and wasn't liberal enough for others. That her stance on Palestine hurt her. That she apparently had no policies. Even though "concepts of a plan" sounded great. Did it hurt for Harris not to show up for Joe Rogan's three-hour podcast? Did that audience truly even consider voting for her? I have my doubts. 

If the prices go down because the millionaire corporations decide to trickle down some coins for the masses, then I guess Trump voters will clap and scream how much they love Big Brother. 

They will spend their two minutes of hate watching Fox News or listening to Joe Rogan and will post that we need to stop being so dramatic because nothing bad will happen now that Papa Trump will be in charge. 

And if we think we’re safe because we’re in California, remember Trump had a rally in Coachella, where he left his followers stranded and he still got 40.1% of the vote. In fact, his numbers have increased steadily since 2016. That election year, he received 31.5% of the vote in California against Hillary Clinton. In 2020, he got 34.3% of the votes. Just because California has been declared a blue bubble, doesn’t mean the bubble can’t burst. 

White supremacy, supported by Christian Nationalism, patriarchy and xenophobia, has always been a thread of the American fabric. Just like anti-Blackness has existed in Latino communities. We’ve had flashes of the end result, but it seems some people thought the Civil Rights Act had swiped it all away like a bad TikTok. And we just kept on scrolling. 

I sure hope we’re being dramatic.