I moved to the United States in 2009, shortly after Barack Obama became its first African-American president. I had just left Italy after the third election victory of Silvio Berlusconi, a tragicomic demagogue. In America I had felt at home; I had felt safe and hopeful. Despite the financial crisis, most Americans I met were optimistic that their country was on a progressive trajectory.

Almost eight years later, I can barely recognise that America. In under two months’ time, an African-American president will turn the White House over to a man endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi party, the American Renaissance and figures such as Geert Wilders from Holland, the political commentator Pam Geller and the Breitbart News website.

More and more, it seems the nation is splitting apart along racial lines.

President-elect Donald Trump’s political debut was as leading man of the “birther” movement, a conspiratorial action group discrediting Obama’s nationality in order to “overthrow” him. Within this movement, Trump found his most fervent political supporters.

There is no doubt that Trump ran a campaign drenched in racism and xenophobia. During his presidential campaign, he considered all Muslim migrants to be potential terrorists, and openly accused Mexicans of being rapists and drug dealers.

Incoming attorney general Jeff Sessions has called for a ‘religious test’ for Muslims. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

And now, those lined up for top jobs in the new Trump administration include: chief strategist Steve Bannon, whose ex-wife testified in court that he did not want his daughters attending school with Jews; Rudy Giuliani, who called the Black Lives Matter movement “racist” and “anti-American”; Clare Lopez, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist; Michael Flynn, who has labelled Islam a “cancer” and not a religion but a sick ideology; incoming attorney general Jeff Sessions, who has argued for a “religious test” for Muslims, insisting that “they” deserve reduced civil rights; and Carl Higbie, who said last week that he considers the notorious Japanese internment camps of the second world war a sound model for a new register of Muslims.

Trump may deny racism, but it’s clear that racists are responding to him. A far-right conference in Washington celebrated his election victory with Nazi-type salutes, and the founder of the “alt-right” movement, Richard Spencer, declared: “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!”

Trump has exploited and galvanised white anxiety in America. When he promised he would “make America great again” for many of his supporters, he evoked a past (both real and imaginary) where whites dominated and people of colour were second-class citizens.

A Public Policy Polling survey showed that 31% of Trump voters in South Carolina believe white people are a superior race. Furthermore, according to research findings by sociologist Philip Cohen and political scientist Jason McDaniel, 78% of Trump supporters hold racist stereotypes against Muslims and African-Americans, believing these groups are inherently violent.

In the end, this election was determined by identity politics. Trump ignited fear against minorities and “foreigners”, turning them into scapegoats for America’s problems; he normalised hate rhetoric and tapped into racist mythology.

His victory can in part be explained as the fury of the disenfranchised white against social and economic developments that they feel have left them behind – changes that include the election of the first African-American president and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Trump has become the perfect messenger for whites who have suffered economically and want “to right the wrongs”. From banning Muslims, to building a border wall, to deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, to reinstating “stop and frisk” (an unconstitutional and discriminatory policy), to attacking women’s reproductive rights and blaming sexual assault in the military on gender integration of the armed forces, Trump is looking to build a new power base that will withstand the projected demographic changes that threaten to undermine the dominance of white Americans.

As the Latino population grows, and projections are that white people will become a minority by 2044, this new tribe of Trump will be protected by carving minority rights right out of the constitution, by reducing civil liberties, restricting voting rights, and above all using Congress to redraw electoral districts to favour white areas. All this will be underpinned by ensuring the supreme court is dominated by conservative judges.

New electoral laws will most likely make it harder to vote, with restrictive ID laws and cutbacks on early voting days. Indeed, Trump sued the state of Nevada on election day for keeping the polls open for an extra two hours.

Beyond doubt, Trump’s victory is an existential crisis for American democracy: on 21 January 2017, Trump and his fellow Republicans will have total control of the White House and both houses of Congress. The next president is proposing policies that will override the progressive history, the laws and the very foundation of America itself.

Americans of conscience, regardless of their age, race or gender, will have to fight to maintain and improve their hard-won rights and liberties. The rest of the world is depending on them too.