For many American’s,
these past couple of days haven’t been great. People have always been disappointed
when their candidate loses, but the devastation
among those who opposed Donald Trump is quite unlike anything seen before. With
this shock in mind, it is important to remember two things if you are truly
scared of a Donald Trump presidency.
First: that we will be
ok.
Democracy is not about those who lose laying down in defeat and admitting that the other side is right. It will make mistakes, because it is a reflection of the people, people who are sometimes flawed and misguided and who make the wrong choice.
Anger and devastation are understandable, but you cannot allow those things to consume you. To do so would justify every vote that goes against what you believe.
Second: You have to fight to make things ok.
There are major concerns from minority groups about what will happen to their rights now that Trump is president-elect. There is good reason for this, from Mexican-American and Muslim-Americans worries considering his widely publicized rhetoric concerning them, to the shocking video tape showing how he discusses women in public, to Vice-President elect Mike Pence’s troubled LGBT past. But these troubling issues should not be cause for despair and resignation. Rather, they must be a motivation. Figures of power that wish to suppress you can only do so if those with the power to stop it give up. And a single loss is not enough to say that you are wrong, that your views and who you are as person are no longer worth having. Those who have opposed Donald Trump throughout the election cycle must continue to do so through these next four years.
As long as you stay strong in what you believe, those beliefs can continue, not matter who is your Senator, Governor, or President.
I'm one of these devastated people. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this happened. I feel like more than anything I have lost a little faith in humanity. This seems wrong on so many levels, and now we have no choice but to wait and see if the results of this election turn into our worst nightmares, or if things like you say, will be ok. I really hope that you're right. I'm terrified, to be honest. I have never wanted to be wrong about someone, more than I do right now.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for your post!
ReplyDeleteGood post. I hope it helps the people who were emotionally swayed by the Clinton campaign's demonization of Candidate Trump.
ReplyDelete