Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right Literary Elements

Socio-Political Studies

A deeply conservative, evangelical Christian region in Louisiana—primarily around Lakes Charles—in the second decade of the 21st century during the tumultuous political period characterized by the election of the nation’s first African American president, the rise of Tea Party, and the advent of Trumpism.

Although a sociological study, the book features first-person narration from the perspective of the author.

The book is serious and scholarly, but the material is presented in a conversational tone. The dominant mood is characterized by the tension between wanting to understand the contradictions and ironies of her subjects and an underlying sense of bewilderment at their embrace of self-defeating ideological beliefs.

Protagonist: Liberal-progressive policies capable of improving the lives of the subjects of her studies. Antagonist: The Social Terrain (the media, church, the Republican Party, and the oil industry) which colludes to keep conservatives from recognizing that they continue to work against their own self-interests through political expression and involvement.

The major conflict at play is situated in the term the Great Paradox: People living in the most conservative states are those who stand to benefit the most from progressive political programs, yet they are most likely to continually oppose those very same programs.

The book reaches its climax in the shadow of the approaching 2016 presidential election with support for Donald Trump split about 50/50 among the region’s residents. Even among those who supported him, there was hesitation. At the same time, however, those who were not supporting his candidacy for the Republican nomination at that time almost all grudgingly admitted they would support him in the general election if he actually did become the Republican Party nominee.

With Donald Trump still not yet even the official Republican nominee, much less the beneficiary of the Electoral College’s bizarre system allowing the loser of the election to become president, the author writes: “Rightwing regimes—focused on national sentiment, strong central rule, and intolerance for minorities or dissent—have come to power in Russia…India…Hungary…and in Poland, which is cracking down on a free press. It is becoming more vocal in France (the National Front), Germany (Alternative for Germany), and the United Kingdom (the Independence Party)." This seems both to predict and foreshadow the addition of the United States to the list during Donald Trump’s single term as president.

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Popular reality television shows which featured southern conservative stereotypes in ways many might deem unflattering—Duck Dynasty and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo—are alluded to as examples of one of the most common examples of victim-playing by white Republicans: “Working class whites are now regularly portrayed as moronic.”

A central premise in the sociological study of 21st century conservatism is situated within the concept of “line cutters,” and the response to the inherent unfairness of this means of getting ahead. Imagery which seeks to penetrate into the mindset of conservative thought expresses this metaphor in a tangible way: “Blacks, women, immigrants, refugees, brown pelicans—all have cut ahead of you in line. But it’s people like you who have made this country great. You feel uneasy. It has to be said: the line cutters irritate you. They are violating rules of fairness. You resent them, and you feel it’s right that you do. So do your friends. Fox commentators reflect your feelings, for your deep story is also the Fox News deep story.”

“Sasol [a South Africa-based chemical company] funds a project to record the history of Mossville, a black community its expansion displaced.”

“There was the story of the Confederate flag as a matter of regional pride (“Don’t shame us”). There was the story of “my ancestors were too poor to own slaves” (“Don’t guilt-trip us”). There was the story of affirmative action whereby whites are victims (“Understand our resentment, desires, and needs”), and there was the story of moral strengths (“Black athletes who won’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance aren’t as grateful to be American as we are. We are the real patriots; respect us for that”).”

The broad term “government” or, on occasion, the slightly more specific “big government” is a pejorative metonym used almost ritualistically by conservatives to implicate a bureaucratic system it collectively views as “a power-amassing elite, creating bogus causes to increase its control and handing out easy money in return for loyal Democratic votes.”

“The American Dream proposed a right way of feeling. You should feel hopeful, energetic, focused, mobilized. Progress—its core idea—didn’t go with feeling confused or mournful.”