Nell Irvin Painter does not accurately describe me (a white woman who voted for Trump) when she defines the slogan “Make America Great Again” as a call for the “return to the times when white people ruled” (essay, March 1). I do not believe she speaks for President Trump, either. The president has made it very clear that his goal is to put all American workers back to work, not just white workers.
Another mistaken and offensive idea expressed in this article is that the white men in charge now will be “governing as white,” which includes the intention of taking America “back to before multiculturalism, ... before the reign of political correctness.” No to the first, yes to the second. Because many Americans are weary of needless political correctness (removing mirrors from school bathrooms to de-emphasize young people’s focus on appearance, for example, or the liberal obsession with myriad new definitions of sexuality and sexual expression taking up class time in schools) does not mean we do not embrace multiculturalism and the nature of America as a diverse nation built by immigrants (of all colors, by the way).
The author’s simplistic depiction of the philosophical and policy differences between the two major political parties is not worthy of serious consideration. It seems in Ms. Painter’s worldview, one party has all good ideas and motivations and the other has all bad ideas and motivations.
If this is what passes for academic discourse at Princeton today, I am seriously disappointed.