I don't know why David French is surprised by the amount of hate he is being bombarded with. People on the left side of the political spectrum have been talking about this for years. It seems like prominent conservatives only understand it when it's directed at them, which to me speaks to an inability to listen to or empathize with other people.
I am a white anglo-taxon protestant, software design engineer, university lecturer, and theological dilettante; a self described fiscal conservative and social moderate who had always voted Republican until Barack Hussein Obama ran for election; and my wife is a dyed in the wool "yellow dog" Democrat. We have both been active literally for decades in promoting full inclusion of LGBT persons in our denomination. We were both aware that some racial unease still existed but in our experience we have seen that as a cultural/economic issue rather than racial (it was racial only because skin color is easily seen).
That said, we have been stunned by the amount of racism, hatred, and vitriol that emerged from under a rock when Obama was elected. I now believe that it is virtually impossible for anyone to fully comprehend the nuances of prejudice that exist in the world and those nuances can NOT be ignored. The type of hatred you have experienced, David French wrote about, and we are seeing — on both sides of today's political spectrum — all stem from a common poisoned root — FEAR. Fear based in ignorance. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the unexpected. Fear of the loss of power. Fear of a loss of status. Fear of change the individual cannot control. Fear of inaction. Fear of being powerless. Fear of difference. All of us are subject to fear at some level and on some issues but it is patently evident that in today's world, not just in the United States but in the world at large, there are those who are more fear driven than others and those fears are independent of political parties and labels such as conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, evangelical, progressive, Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc, etc, etc.
Mr Trump, I suspect because he is at his base a fearful man, has tapped into that base of fear and like demagogues throughout the ages is fanning the embers of fear into flames. Hillary Clinton's gender coming on top of eight years of the previous new thing, a man of African American descent as president, switches the fanning into high gear. To me, the best news coming out of all this is Trump's continuing fall in the polls. I wish I thought that was because of Secretary Clinton's popularity, but I am afraid that it is more based on fear of a Trump presidency. (Once again FEAR becomes the operative factor in my decision. 👹)
Persecution and abuse as I can only suspect you have encountered is never acceptable, but I FEAR that because your relationships are seen as different it is sadly inevitable that you will encounter it at some times and some places. I suspect more often any approbation is anonymous — it is a lot easier than a face to face confrontation. Change takes time, cultural change takes a long time. But that is of little comfort to you and yours when it happens.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
