Chapter 1 - The Politics of Shame in the Age of Trump

Summary

This chapter takes its point of departure the politics of shame in the context of racism expressed by Trump’s rhetoric and examines how different types of white shame require different pedagogical strategies to address white shame critically and productively. The chapter is developed along two directions: first, it analyzes how Trump takes political advantage of different types of white shame to restore a lost sense of dignity for Whites; second, the chapter argues that the response to this politics of shame and its linkage to racism is not to retreat to shaming Trump and his supporters, but rather to understand the political and pedagogical limits of different types of white shame and shaming and seek strategies that address them. The chapter concludes by suggesting pedagogical strategies for different types of white shame emerging from Trump’s rhetoric and its linkage to racism. These strategies are expanded upon in Part III of the book.