Post Election Thoughts: Sore Winners, part 1
In the weeks since the election, I have seen a lot of back and forth discussion between people who used to like each other and respect each other. People I like and respect.
I have honestly tried to maintain my friendships with people I know who voted for the Donald, and I've tried to give them the benefit of the doubt when they have insisted that they voted for him for other reasons other than his openly and blatantly racist, bigoted, misogynistic, Islamophobic, and not exactly LGBTQ friendly beliefs. I mean, my support of Hillary was lackluster at best, so I can sympathize with people who didn't want to vote for her.
The thing that is hard to swallow about that, though, is that if you didn't want to actually cast a vote for her, there were less vile options. Gary Johnson, Jill Stein. Evan McMullin was actually a pretty decent alternative. I kind of liked him, actually. You didn't HAVE to vote for Trump if you didn't want to vote for Hillary. You really didn't.
But you did and you can't take it back now. But you want to not be lumped in with the actual racist people who supported him. I can understand that. Nobody wants to just be lumped in with others just because they share one characteristic. For instance, most Muslims don't like to be labeled as terrorists because they may happen to share a religion. Mexican Americans don't all want to be labeled as rapists and illegal immigrants because some Mexicans may be those things. Yet, you voted for a man who campaigned on a platform that was premised, in quite a large part, on promises to treat all Muslims as potential terrorists and all people of Mexican heritage as rapists, drug dealing illegal immigrants. And you voted for him knowing this about him, so...
And guess what? Your vote helped put this man in a position of power. And what has happened since then? Swastikas have shown up on buildings in Wisconsin and apparently in other places as well. The KKK had a victory parade in North Carolina. Stories have been shared about women with hijabs, or even not hijabs, just a headwraps, being confronted and asked to remove them, or go back to where they came from. Notes left on cars belonging to brown skinned people telling the owners that they should be prepared to be deported. Kids telling other kids in schools that they will be sent back. Openly racist marches in PUBLIC SCHOOLS meant to intimidate and terrorize students of color.
To my friends who voted for this man and are now saying that these things can't be blamed on Trump or those that voted for him that don't share his views, I must ask you this. Do you truly believe, like really, truly believe without a shadow of a doubt, if these things would be happening if ANY OTHER CANDIDATE had won. If anyone else but Trump had won, would there be an open victory march by the KKK? Anyone else, would there be a rash of swastikas being painted on buildings in various states? Anyone else, would there be "make America white again" being painted on dugouts on softball fields? If you can't honestly say yes, these things would be happening, then you really do have to admit it was Trump that unleashed this monster, and your vote helped him do it. You don't get a pass on that because you don't share those beliefs. You knew HE did, you knew his platform, you knew who was backing him, and you voted for him anyway.
I have at least one friend who was a Trump supporter and reacted to the fear being expressed by many by saying that "we won't let it happen." But when confronted with the evidence that it is in fact happening, that same friend is reacting by saying calm down, we don't know that these are actual hate crimes yet, we don't know why the swastikas are showing up, etc. To this friend and everyone who is thinking along these lines...the wait and see approach DOES NOT WORK when it comes to racism and hate. It has never worked, and it never will. For those who have seen Trump's victory as a license to let hate run free, silence will only embolden them.
So to my friends who assure me that they won't let civil rights be trampled while exactly that IS happening, I am challenging you to tell me exactly what you are doing right now to make sure it will stop. You helped unleash this monster, so what are you doing, right now, today, to rein it back in? How are you going to own your part in this situation and how are you going to rectify it?
On November 8, I saw both candidates for exactly who they were and knowing that for all of her faults, I could be sure that Hillary as prez was not going to threaten the basic civil rights of my friends and neighbors. I chose to make that a priority for the next four years. You did not. For whatever reason, you didn't see the rights of others as being as important as your own interests. You chose to put the basic civil rights, and basic safety, of every single non-white, non-male, non-straight, non-Christian person in this country at risk.
I respect your right to vote for the candidate of your choice. You don't have to agree with me. I am an open minded adult citizen and can be respectful of differing beliefs and opinions. But until you tell me what you plan to do to own this situation and make it better, understand that I can't quite see you in the same way I did before.
UPDATE: A friend of a friend posted this photo tonight of a note left on his wife's vehicle at her job. This isn't a story I found on some fake news site or anything. This is a real person's experience. Please tell me again why people shouldn't be afraid.
I have honestly tried to maintain my friendships with people I know who voted for the Donald, and I've tried to give them the benefit of the doubt when they have insisted that they voted for him for other reasons other than his openly and blatantly racist, bigoted, misogynistic, Islamophobic, and not exactly LGBTQ friendly beliefs. I mean, my support of Hillary was lackluster at best, so I can sympathize with people who didn't want to vote for her.
The thing that is hard to swallow about that, though, is that if you didn't want to actually cast a vote for her, there were less vile options. Gary Johnson, Jill Stein. Evan McMullin was actually a pretty decent alternative. I kind of liked him, actually. You didn't HAVE to vote for Trump if you didn't want to vote for Hillary. You really didn't.
But you did and you can't take it back now. But you want to not be lumped in with the actual racist people who supported him. I can understand that. Nobody wants to just be lumped in with others just because they share one characteristic. For instance, most Muslims don't like to be labeled as terrorists because they may happen to share a religion. Mexican Americans don't all want to be labeled as rapists and illegal immigrants because some Mexicans may be those things. Yet, you voted for a man who campaigned on a platform that was premised, in quite a large part, on promises to treat all Muslims as potential terrorists and all people of Mexican heritage as rapists, drug dealing illegal immigrants. And you voted for him knowing this about him, so...
And guess what? Your vote helped put this man in a position of power. And what has happened since then? Swastikas have shown up on buildings in Wisconsin and apparently in other places as well. The KKK had a victory parade in North Carolina. Stories have been shared about women with hijabs, or even not hijabs, just a headwraps, being confronted and asked to remove them, or go back to where they came from. Notes left on cars belonging to brown skinned people telling the owners that they should be prepared to be deported. Kids telling other kids in schools that they will be sent back. Openly racist marches in PUBLIC SCHOOLS meant to intimidate and terrorize students of color.
To my friends who voted for this man and are now saying that these things can't be blamed on Trump or those that voted for him that don't share his views, I must ask you this. Do you truly believe, like really, truly believe without a shadow of a doubt, if these things would be happening if ANY OTHER CANDIDATE had won. If anyone else but Trump had won, would there be an open victory march by the KKK? Anyone else, would there be a rash of swastikas being painted on buildings in various states? Anyone else, would there be "make America white again" being painted on dugouts on softball fields? If you can't honestly say yes, these things would be happening, then you really do have to admit it was Trump that unleashed this monster, and your vote helped him do it. You don't get a pass on that because you don't share those beliefs. You knew HE did, you knew his platform, you knew who was backing him, and you voted for him anyway.
I have at least one friend who was a Trump supporter and reacted to the fear being expressed by many by saying that "we won't let it happen." But when confronted with the evidence that it is in fact happening, that same friend is reacting by saying calm down, we don't know that these are actual hate crimes yet, we don't know why the swastikas are showing up, etc. To this friend and everyone who is thinking along these lines...the wait and see approach DOES NOT WORK when it comes to racism and hate. It has never worked, and it never will. For those who have seen Trump's victory as a license to let hate run free, silence will only embolden them.
So to my friends who assure me that they won't let civil rights be trampled while exactly that IS happening, I am challenging you to tell me exactly what you are doing right now to make sure it will stop. You helped unleash this monster, so what are you doing, right now, today, to rein it back in? How are you going to own your part in this situation and how are you going to rectify it?
On November 8, I saw both candidates for exactly who they were and knowing that for all of her faults, I could be sure that Hillary as prez was not going to threaten the basic civil rights of my friends and neighbors. I chose to make that a priority for the next four years. You did not. For whatever reason, you didn't see the rights of others as being as important as your own interests. You chose to put the basic civil rights, and basic safety, of every single non-white, non-male, non-straight, non-Christian person in this country at risk.
I respect your right to vote for the candidate of your choice. You don't have to agree with me. I am an open minded adult citizen and can be respectful of differing beliefs and opinions. But until you tell me what you plan to do to own this situation and make it better, understand that I can't quite see you in the same way I did before.
UPDATE: A friend of a friend posted this photo tonight of a note left on his wife's vehicle at her job. This isn't a story I found on some fake news site or anything. This is a real person's experience. Please tell me again why people shouldn't be afraid.
Comments
Post a Comment