The Disappearing American Dignity

John McWhorter, Ph.D

I personally don’t mind the trend toward letting people wear jeans to church. As an unusually tall person, jeans are often the only off-the-rack britches available in my size, so I wear jeans everywhere: work, church, school, job interviews. This growing willingness to let people remain informal during formal situations means I can wear comfortable clothes which fit. I’ll never demand increased formality for formality’s sake.

That said, increased informality creates new opportunities for friction. John McWhorter writes that, as more Black Americans feel comfortable using Black English in mixed-race situations, White Americans feel increasingly convicted by the language. McWhorter mostly means workplace situations, but we’ve seen this happen in other public spheres too. Last year, conservative spokespeople expressed outrage to learn that Black politicians changed their tone depending on which audience they addressed.

Growing informality isn’t uniquely Black. Historian Nancy Isenberg writes that Elvis Presley began mainstreaming White redneck culture when he refused to moderate his Memphis accent on camera. For Isenberg, that trend culminated with President Bill Clinton, who didn’t only retain his Arkansas accent, he exaggerated it on camera. He parlayed his “plain folks” appeal to victory over George H.W. Bush—a lesson Bush’s son took to heart eight years later.

Again, nothing against informality; our increased willingness to speak without mediating mannerly conventions provides opportunities to communicate more deeply and effectively. Unfortunately, while we’ve seen formality become less prized in American society, we’ve seen a plurality of Americans also sacrifice dignity. This isn’t a semantic difference. While formality generally means adherence to rituals and ceremony, dignity means treating oneself, and others, as possessing worth and character.

Dr. Nancy Isenberg

Earlier this week, Nebraska journalist George Ayoub compared Donald Trump’s third Presidential campaign to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist paranoia. When, Ayoub wonders, will someone direct the same question at Donald Trump that Joseph Welch lobbed at McCarthy: “Have you no sense of decency?” Popular history contends that Welch’s question began the process of turning American voters against McCarthy’s scare tactics.

Much as I appreciate Ayoub’s position, I believe he’s mistaken, because we already know the answer: Donald Trump has never possessed decency. He began his first mainstream Presidential bid by hurling racist insults at immigrants, mocking the disabled, and snuggling with neo-Nazis. Trump’s partisans have spent the subsequent nine years repeatedly saying “He didn’t mean that” whenever Trump says something indecent which he clearly meant.

Quoting Ayoub again, he laments how today’s politics lacks “decorum, simple manners and any semblance of compassion.” Here, Ayoub and I agree. Politicians work for the American people, and therefore treat the people with respect and dignity (in principle anyway, if not in practice). There’s a categorical difference between George W. Bush’s informal chumminess, and Trump treating broad numbers of American citizens with public contempt.

Put another way, we’re witnessing the disappearance of Eddie Haskell. This supporting character from Leave It To Beaver knew how to modulate his tone, behaving manipulatively and even downright viciously with his peers. But when confronted by adults, he changed his tone, assumed dignity, and became downright deferential. We all attended grade school; probably all knew kids who acted accountable whenever adults were watching.

George Ayoub

But as Americans increasingly feel no need to behave with formality, some also feel increasingly empowered to shed dignity or accountability. In this week’s Iowa caucuses, Nikki Haley, a seasoned politician with rhetorical skills and actual policies, finished third behind Trump and Ron DeSantis, whose interpersonal skills haven’t visibly improved since fifth grade. Those voters motivated enough to caucus, see bullying and indignity as leadership qualities.

As the cleft between America’s political parties continues widening, the practical difference is no longer between left and right wings, more or fewer protections for women and minorities, or stronger or weaker economic controls. Often, partisans differ on dignity. The people most likely to vote Trump, wear branded red hats, and wave Trump flags, also frequently think it’s funny to treat customer service representatives and panhandlers poorly.

To repeat, I approve of increased informality in America’s public sphere. Much social and psychological repression in the Gilded Age or Eisenhower Administration arose because people felt so circumscribed by ceremony that they couldn’t face themselves, or each other, honestly. But for too many, rising informality means rejecting dignity, in themselves and others. Freed from inherited ceremony, too many people unmasked their ugliest, most vicious selves.

As long as schoolyard bullies with no personal dignity have national platforms and set our society’s morals, we’ll see the current public ugliness continue to get worse.