A tourist holds a “Make America Great Again” hat outside the White House, August 2, 2018. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Rebecca Makkai, a former finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, apparently believes red hats make ‘disenfranchised people feel unsafe.’

A prominent liberal author has compared the red “Make America Great Again” hats to Nazi swastikas, and told “normal people” — that is, people who don’t support Trump — to stop wearing any kind of red hat, lest they start “making people scared.”

Rebecca Makkai, who has been a finalist for both a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, made the controversial comments on Twitter, according to Fox News.


To be clear, Makkai really was talking about all red hats. In fact, she even specifically asked fans of sports teams that wear red hats — such as the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals — to not wear those hats out in public to avoid making other people afraid.

“Not worth making disenfranchised people feel unsafe,” she wrote.

Makkai also had a problem with MAGA parody hats:


“Also, for the love of God: The clever folks wearing “Make America Read Again” or whatever caps — NO,” she said. “You’re making everyone scared. Don’t do it.”

Honestly, there are so many things wrong with this that I hardly even know where to start.

First of all, there is something totally wrong with her assertion that anyone who does not agree with her political views is somehow not a “normal” person. In fact, part of the reason why some of Trump’s supporters do support him so fervently is they feel like much of the country sees them as “less than” for their views. Trying to paint them all as a bunch of abnormal freaks is not going to turn anyone toward Makkai’s point of view, it is just going to turn them further away. This is a huge problem when you consider how divided by politics our country is already. To far too many people, those on the opposite side of the political spectrum are not just political opponents, but enemies in life. This kind of divisiveness, to which Makkai is unquestionably contributing, is far more harmful to the country than any color of hat. It’s destroying friendships and families. It’s making it impossible to have the kind of open, honest, respectful conversations that we need to have with one another as Americans if we ever hope to solve our country’s problems.

Second of all, if we are going to go around deciding what is and is not “normal,” I would say that a “normal” person does not take it upon himself to decide what color hats other people should be wearing. I mean, seriously. The color red is not and should not be controversial, because well, it is a f***ing color. With all due respect, if someone out there really finds themself scared to go out in public because they might encounter a Red Wings fan wearing a red hat, it seems pretty clear that they’re the one with an issue.