Professors across Cornell's campus weigh in on what is at stake for the 2016 election. Africana Professor Kevin Gaines, who will be teaching a class in Spring 2017 entitled "Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Race, Class and Populism in the Age of Trump," has this to say:
"A Trump victory will result in political and economic chaos, shocking many Americans at how easily decades of political reforms and social progress can be reversed. A Trump administration, aided by a GOP-controlled Congress, will complete the unraveling of the liberal-democratic order of the United States already teetering, as President Obama put it, during the campaign. Far-right opponents of civil liberties, voting rights, immigration, reproductive rights, the rule of law, and due process will pursue extreme policies. The prospect of civil disorder and political violence against racial and religious minorities, women, LGBTQ people, and dissenters is real.
A Hillary Clinton victory will slow the far-right wing assault on civil liberties and liberal-democratic norms (such as the peaceful transfer of power). Without a democratic majority in Congress, Clinton will face implacable opposition from Congress and right-wing controlled media to any Supreme Court appointments and her moderate agenda of incremental reform on the economy, health care, criminal justice and climate change. But the prospects for progressive social movements are far better under a Clinton administration than under a neo-fascist Trump administration."
This is part of an article published in The Cornell Daily Sun. Click here to read other commentary.
