Continued thoughts on the election:
From Max, in Oakland, California:
White people need to take ownership of this. If you are crushed by this result then you need to start thinking about and planning how you will use your privilege to help those who will be marginalized and demonized come January (more so than they already are). And for my fellow white straight men, we will be the least affected by Trump, which is why it’s so important that we are a part of putting in real work. It will be difficult, and awkward and require sacrifice we’re not used to.”
From Rabeea, in Karachi, Pakistan:
I’m reminded of a quote by H.L. Mencken in which he said, ‘Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.’ Never was that truer than this year. Remember when the US and UK were the saviours of the world, invading Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria to establish democratic rule? Well, irony just ate itself after the mind-boggling results of Brexit and US elections. It shattered all our illusions that we live in a progressive, more inclusive society. Electing Trump is America’s endorsement of sexism, bigotry and Islamophobia. It shows how easy it is to sway the general public by appealing to their self-interest and prejudice. It is about time the West stops glossing over and starts facing the inherent racism prevailing in their societies. I think it is quite obvious now that xenophobia is not a result of lack in education, lower income, etc. Its roots are deeper than that and to work towards eradicating them, diverse literature and voices of BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) writers should be encouraged to counteract the propagation of vitriol and intolerance.”
From Grace, in Big Sur, California:
“The most vulnerable among us will now be even more vulnerable,” Roxane Gay, New York Times
And we thought George W. Bush was bad. The election results have not truly sunk in for me and I don’t know if they ever will. So here we are in some sort of alternate reality with a new president who doesn’t believe that we should put money into saving our planet and who is openly racist, bigoted and misogynistic. He is a man who believes in racial profiling and his vice president thinks that electrocuting gay people will turn them straight.
This is only the beginning of a time that will go down in American History. As a white, middle class, educated woman, I feel embarrassed and disgusted that I am a citizen of this country. But my feelings can never be what minorities across our country are feeling. To the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, immigrants both documented and undocumented, I am sorry. Our country has never been good to you, but now we have completely failed.
I don’t know how to move forward, but I do know that there are millions of amazing people in our country who did not vote for this. There are states and communities, counties, and cities who will fight back to protect our values. I have to believe that there are enough good people in our country that we will come together to rise above, fight, and support and save one another.
