In a new interview with The Daily Beast, Punk rock icon Henry Rollins believes the Donald Trump presidency will speed up the end of bigotry.
He explained:
“Some people in this country have been thirsting for a corny, pseudo-populist like Reagan since those days, and now they’ve got it. He’s president now. And I think it’s very likely he’ll get a second term. And so what does it do, or what’s the rendering, artistically?
I think it’s going to blow up in their faces. Because what’s happening now is young people are saying, ‘Oh, part of my job today, besides being a gorgeous 17-year-old young person, is to not hate gay people, is to not be racist, is to not call someone a ‘f*g’ or anyone a ‘b*tch.’ I’m not going to be a misogynist like my weird uncle who spouts off at Thanksgiving dinner. Like, that’s one of my jobs, is to not repeat this.’ And so I think a lot of that American bigotry — you know, ‘What? Your grandfather’s a funny guy!’ — that’s coming to an end. And I think what Trump and these guys don’t realize, is that they are hastening their demise. And, literally, their demographic is dying.
“My neighborhood used to be a post-World War II, Russian, German, Jewish population,” he continued.
“But the young, Supreme crowd is coming in. You drive down the block now, and where it used to be four-foot two-inch-tall people who’d survived the war, and now it’s a bunch of graceful, gazelle-like young people with $900 shoes. It’s a different time, and what I think you’re going to see is not necessarily rock against Reagan, or get-out-the-vote concerts, as much as you’re going to see ‘our prom queen this year is my friend Cedric and he got a unanimous vote and the teachers are so p*ssed.’ That’s what’s going to happen. I think there’s going to be a huge rejection of this really antiquated bigotry. And so I think what you’re seeing right now is the old guard kicking and screaming as it’s dying off. And that, to me, is 2019 punk rock.”