Trump Syllabus 2.0

Curated by N. D. B. Connolly and Keisha N. Blain
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On June 19th, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran a web version of a mock college syllabus that sought to explore the deep historical and political roots of Donald Trump’s political success during the 2016 Presidential campaign. The syllabus suffered from a number of egregious omissions and inaccuracies, including its failures to include contributions of scholars of color and address the critical subjects of racism, sexism, and xenophobia on which Trump has built his candidacy. In May 2016, Donald Trump became the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States. Not since Barry Goldwater’s 1964 bid has a major political party produced so polarizing a candidate. Many, including Trump himself, attributed the campaign’s success to factors unique to Trump, like his wealth, his celebrity, and his professed aversion for “political correctness.” Trump’s political ascendancy came, however, as his personal fortunes did: through inheritance. This course, assembled by historians N. D. B. Connolly and Keisha N. Blain, includes suggested readings and other resources from more than one hundred scholars in a variety of disciplines. The course explores Donald Trump’s rise as a product of the American lineage of racism, sexism, nativism, and imperialism. It offers an introduction to the deep currents of American political culture that produced what many simply call “Trumpism”: personal and political gain marred by intolerance, derived from wealth, and rooted in the history of segregation, sexism, and exploitation Photograph by Gage Skidmore / Flickr Photograph by Gage Skidmore / Flickr The readings below introduce observers to the past and present conditions that allowed Trump to seize electoral control of a major American political party. By extension, this syllabus acknowledges the intersectional nature of power and politics. The course emphasizes the ways that cultural capital like Trump’s grows best under certain socioeconomic conditions. Trump’s open advocacy for race-based exclusion and politically motivated violence on matters both foreign and domestic cannot be separated from the historical and day-to-day inequalities endured by people of color, women, and religious minorities living in or migrating to the United States. Concerned less with Trump as a man than with “Trumpism” as a product of history, this course interrogates the connections between wealth, violence, and politics. The weekly readings are organized by themes captured by Trump’s own statements on the campaign trail during the 2016 presidential election. The syllabus is built for flexibility. The recommended books may be used in whole or in part. Primary sources can work under one theme or across weeks. A collection of assignments to accompany this syllabus appears on the website of the African American Intellectual History Society—with the contributing faculty member’s name provided for attribution.
  1. 15
    1. 7
      1. Book

        Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression

        Alan Brinkley

      2. Book

        The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics

        Dan T. Carter

      3. Book

        Ben Tillman and the Reconstruction of White Supremacy

        Stephen D. Kantrowitz

      4. Book

        The Populist Vision

        Charles Postel

      5. Book

        The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008

        Sean Wilentz

      6. Book

        Change They Can’t Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America

        Christopher S. Parker and Matt A. Barreto

      7. Article

        In 1927, Donald Trump’s Father was Arrested After a Klan Riot in Queens

        Philip Bump

    2. 5
      1. Article

        The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro

        Frederick Douglass

      2. Article

        George Wallace 1963 Inaugural Address as Governor of Alabama

        George Wallace

      3. Article

        Extremism in the Defense of Liberty is No Vice

        Barry Goldwater

      4. Article

        Silent Majority Speech

        Richard Nixon

      5. Film

        Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

    3. 2
      1. Note

        Untitled

        In 1-2 pages, draw connections between Donald Trump and Ben Tillman, paying close attention to similarities in their strategies of recruitment; political and economic messages; rhetorical strategies; and intended audience. [Sherie Randolph]

      2. Note

        Untitled

        Read a speech from Trump, Father Coughlin, and Dennis Kearny (anti-Chinese labor activist 1870s). In 2-3 pages, offer an analysis of the speeches, noting similarities and/or differences.

    4. Note

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      ![Photograph by Evan Guest / Flickr](https://www.publicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/870e94fa-7733-4fd3-83c8-b5d6cace4b97.jpg)

  2. 8
    1. 6
      1. Book

        Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880

        W. E. B. Du Bois

      2. Book

        American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia

        Edmund S. Morgan

      3. Book

        Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan

        Nancy MacLean

      4. Book

        The House that Race Built: Black Americans, US Terrain

        Kimberlé Crenshaw

      5. Book

        White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era

        Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

      6. Book

        White Rage: The Unspoken Truth About our Racial Divide

        Carol Anderson

    2. 2
      1. Film

        American History X

      2. Film

        Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream

  3. 11
    1. 5
      1. Book

        Sociological Theories: Race and Colonialism

        Stuart Hall

      2. Book

        How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America: Problems in Race, Political Economy, and Society

        Manning Marable

      3. Book

        Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class

        Ian Haney Lopez

      4. Book

        The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power

        Leah Wright Rigueur

      5. Book

        Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement

        Angela Davis, Frank Barat, and Cornel West

    2. 4
      1. Article

        Birtherism: Where it All Began

        Ben Smith and Byron Tau

      2. Book

        The Fire Next Time

        James Baldwin

      3. Book

        The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle, 1954–1990

        Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill, Vincent Harding, and Darlene Clark Hine

      4. Film

        Race: The Power of an Illusion

    3. 2
      1. Note

        Untitled

        Read SCOTUS decisions in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) and United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) and compare to Donald Trump’s attacks on Obama’s citizenship. [Julie Greene]

      2. Note

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        Search historical primary sources for dog whistles (political messages employing coded language). Draw connections between these dog whistles to Trump’s non-coded race baiting. [Elizabeth Cohen]

  4. 8
    1. 6
      1. Book

        Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America

        Mae M. Ngai

      2. Paper

        The Citizen and the Terrorist

        Leti Volpp

      3. Book

        Habeas Corpus after 9/11: Confronting America’s New Global Detention System

        Jonathan Hafetz

      4. Book

        Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects

        Amaney A. Jamal and Nadine Christine Naber

      5. Book

        How Does it Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America

        Moustafa Bayoumi

      6. Paper

        Off the Record: The National Security Council, Drone Killings, and Historical Accountability

        Douglas Cox and Ramzi Kassem

    2. 2
      1. Article

        A Guide to the Memos on Torture

      2. Article

        Why Trump Makes Me Scared for My Family

        Aziz Ansari