What if HE Becomes President?: The Adolescent Take on Today’s Politics

I study racism. I have spent a lot of time talking with children this year about what I do. And, like clockwork, they always end up shocking me with the knowledge they have about the subject matter.

“So, who knows what racism is?” I’ll ask the bright-eyed five to eighteen year olds I encounter in career days and panels.

Hands fly up.

“Trayvon! And Trump!”

Sigh...

I understand how the majority of Black people may not vote for, or heck, even like a certain presidential candidate. Given President Obama’s ability to command 95% and 93% of the Black vote in the respective prior elections, I imagine it challenging for any candidate, even a fellow Democrat, to match his connection to the Black community.

Politics notwithstanding, however, the term “racism” as an immediate trigger for a politician’s name brings me pause. Although adults are ultimately the agents responsible for the election of the leadership in our country, it goes without saying that youth are impacted by the policies, rhetoric, and behaviors of those representing all of us. There is a catchy commercial from Hillary Clinton’s campaign regarding the role model that Donald Trump will be for our youth. I thought about the numerous times I heard from youth their perceptions of him as a leader. And then, it hit me.

I’m a researcher. I have to have data about this.

And sure enough, I did.

I recently developed and piloted the Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race (EMBRace) intervention for Black families with adolescents to discuss racism and discrimination. When I reflected back to the sessions with my clients, I remembered politics coming up quite a bit. Bear in mind that the intervention did not explicitly ask about politics, yet Donald Trump was a theme that came up with each of the participants, parents and children alike, enrolled in the study.

Indeed, this poignant quote from a post-test assessment expresses the concern of one of our youth participants via her mother:

Facilitator: Has there been a really stressful situation that you all have talked about recently?

Parent: Yeah about Donald Trump. Like my daughter was asking are they going to kick Muslims out of America. And about like what are they going to do to Black people, and about, yeah basically how are Muslims perceived. Why they are going to kick Muslims out? And if Donald Trump becomes president, what happens?

The intersection of race, sex, and religion seems especially troublesome for this family as they navigate the murky political waters this election cycle.

Similarly, a youth who was in a session discussing preparation strategies for bias reported the following when asked when it is that he worries:

Youth: When I see the news, then, then like I just see… the headline "Race for White House" and then I just think what it's gonna be for Donald Trump to be president and then I start thinking about how I can't get a job and then after I start thinking about my race…

This young man began a series of negative automatic thoughts from the mere idea of mass media throughout the election.

What gives me incredible hope, however, is the way psychologists - especially those of my generation - are paying attention to racially-specific factors impacting our adolescents. Even more importantly, as researchers of adolescents, why not draw from their own coping strategies?

Facilitator: Okay. And so what do your friends or other family members and other sources—like, the media, for example—tell you about race and discrimination?

Youth: The news...like, um...like, Donald Trump. He, um...it wasn't on the news but it was on YouTube. He called all Black people "dirty, ignorant people."

F: Mmm. And how did that make you feel?

Y: It made me feel, um...well I was a bit angry, but at the same time, I didn't really care because I knew that it wasn't true.

F: And how did you know that's not true?

Y: Because me and my mom—well, all of us in our family—is not dirty, ignorant.

F: So, what would you like your parents to do more or less of regarding race and discrimination?

Y: I think my mom's doing a great—my mom and my dad's—doing a great job…Because they always keep me, like, they always keep me updated about what's going on and just- just talks to me about what's going on and tells me, "You don't have to hear what they say and just, I don't know, just do what you have to do."

F: And what does that mean – to "do what you have to do"?

Y: It means just live your life. Just live your life.

…

For the sake of my intervention participants and all other adolescents growing up in America during this election, I hope they are literally able to live their lives in the next four years.