We must move forward.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at 12:28PM I wasn’t going to say more.
But.
Last night, I had to hold my crying son and try to explain to him how such a hateful, bullying man could earn the support of so many. I had to try to convince him that this did not mean that half the country was just as hateful. I had to remind him that his great grandpa and his great-great grandparents came to this country full of hope…that they struggled and suffered and persevered so that he could be where he is now….that his great grandpa went against cultural norms to marry his white great grandma at a time when interracial marriages was not looked kindly upon (was not even legal in some areas). I had to try to convince him that that suffering and prejudice was not going to be repeated all over again.
So. I’ll make you a deal. I will do my best to think that if you voted for Trump you did so in the hopes of change…as a protest to the current system. I can respect that; and, based on what I’ve seen/heard, that’s true for many of you. Whether or not I agree with those policy sentiments and whether or not I think your hopes have any possibility of coming true is beside the point.
In exchange, I’m asking you to realize that the reason Hillary supporters are taking this so personally is not that we’re all just die hard Democrats. A good many of us were voting against the sexism, racism, ignorance, fear-mongering, self-interest and arrogance represented by Trump. To us, a vote for Trump was a vote FOR those things. We heard a message of hate and division.
So, even though you felt you were voting on the basis of policy that was apparently worth turning a blind eye to Trump’s obvious character flaws and the message of hate he stands for, a great many of us voted on the basis that those character issues and that message was vitally important…that he is not the role model we want for our children or the person we want representing us to the world.
We must move forward from here.
I see many posts on Facebook about what to tell our children and how we must rise past this and work together. But I also am saddened to see posts lacking compassion and rubbing in the defeat with continued mean-spirited remarks. I am choosing to reflect on what I am thankful for amid all this.
I am thankful for the discussions this election opened up…for the willingness of people to step forward and take a stand (regardless of which stand it was)…for the reminder of the strengths and weaknesses of our constitutional democracy…for the learning opportunities this election provided…for the lesson in the importance of understanding and learning from history…for the fact that more than half the voters share at least some of my concerns and sentiments.
We must move forward from here. Please help me to do so. We must keep the discussions going.
Help me by demanding of this man that he actually be president of ALL United States citizens…help me by holding our media more accountable through paying attention to your own use of it…help me by uniting and trying to see each other’s view point rather than dividing, casting blame or gloating…help me by building a better world for my sons where people are kind, informed and open.
Let’s not give fear the upper hand. We must move forward.
Reader Comments (3)
So well-said, Amanda.
I have no words yet. Thank you for yours.
Thank you for posting this. I am having such a hard time with the idea that so many of my fellow Americans are filled with such hate, directed towards me and people I love. Is it true that the USA is not the country I thought it was or did the people who feel the way I do just not bother to vote? Really struggling to make sense of this enough that I can get out of bed every day and face the world.