Do I need to tell you about myself? Will you listen? Are you listening?

On a hilltop not so far away, yet far enough that the horizon is nothing but trees. There lie two friends. These friends for most of their lives have only ever known trees, mud, and livestock. Intelligence is a curious thing, able to manifest itself in all shapes and sizes. As you read this, you can already imagine that friend of yours who is known for their “street smarts” and the other known for their “book smarts.” I don’t even bother mentioning the examples of my own life; I assume you can relate and already have. I paint this vague picture for one purpose only: to remind you that you were not dumb.

I have seen my brethren sneered at, chased from groups and friends. They were deemed a fool. I ask you to imagine a Trump supporter. If you can’t picture one, just google "Trump supporter" and click the meme option if you want a real treat. Now, I’ve done a whole lot of talking but have said very little. I have done this to demonstrate what comes to mind of a Trump supporter. I am white, so are the majority of Trump supporters as well. Demographics in their purest form don’t lie. However, the majority of the U.S. is white as well. This, nevertheless, is just as important as you would think, just not in the way you would think.

Cutting to the chase. Skimmers are done reading by this point, I hope they caught that last sentence. Trump supporters don’t just crawl out of the swamp somewhere and our parents (except in a few extreme cases) do not teach us that we are superior or that some people are inferior. We learn to hate from you. That’s a very condemning statement. However, I am a redneck, by stereotypical definition: I can’t read, write, and have issues with basic math. It is assumed we are racist by nature and we are treated accordingly. An anecdote if you will: I have a friend who came up from Georgia that told me that when he arrived because of his accent people thought he couldn’t read or add (forgive me for mentioning you). Now, this really isn’t anyone’s fault--it is more an inadvertent effect of everyone trying not to be racist. Nevertheless, this causes us to distrust anyone who isn’t a redneck.

So why did I stop supporting him? Well, Trump in my mind, at the time had his flaws. He wasn’t perfect, yet he was pro-gun which gave me a defense from the government or anybody who thought I was inferior and saw fit to mistreat me. He wasn’t going to just let people in from another country who have a different culture. No way would he let them waltz on in because their country was war zone against our country. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if your family is feuding with another and their kids are getting caught in the crossfire, you don’t invite them over for refuge. You never know if they’re going to want revenge for their father (which is fair). This may or may not be right but that’s a discussion for another time.

These were the reasons I was going to vote for him. Unfortunately, these were also the things that liberals would tirade over. So long as these topics took all the attention, we would never notice that Trump wasn’t our friend either. What changed my mind is when I was doing research and found out that Trump supports eminent domain. Which is fancy talk for, if the government deems your land could be put to better use for the public, they can take it. Our land, our homes are all we got. If you take that from us what can we do? No one will give us a loan for a new home. We can’t go to the projects, just look at us.

Now you see why I can’t vote for him. Hopefully, you also see why I almost did. Most of all, hopefully, you understand now where Trump gets his power from. Not us, but you. We’re not dumb, we know you don’t like us.