Like many of you, I spent the days after the election in a sort of shocked silence. Wasn’t this the year the US should have elected its first female president? Weren’t we supposed to keep progressing?
But no. Instead of celebrating, I keep wondering what sort of legacy the 45th president of the US will leave: some horrific combination of Andrew Johnson’s racism with Herbert Hoover’s disastrous economic policies, perhaps?
Of course, I’m angry. I’m angry at the outcome of the vote. I’m angry at those who keep chanting the “it’s okay, we’ll all be fine, let’s all just get along” line. I’m angry at those who call out people protesting the election of someone who represents a worldview that fundamentally devalues their humanity. We need to be angry. And we need to voice our anger.
We need more voices speaking out about the effects of this travesty of an election. More voices like Caine’s over at Affinity, covering the aftermath.
More voices calling out the implications of what a vote for a bigot is: an act of bigotry. As John Scalzi wrote the day after the election, ” If you vote for a bigot who has bigoted plans, you need to be aware of what that says about you, and your complicity in those plans.”
More warning voices. Jean Kazez noted some of her fears the day before the election in a post in which she asks “what are the worst things about a Trump future?” Alas, we may know first-hand.
More voices keeping us focused on what is at stake, such as Clinton’s: “And to all the little girls watching right now, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world.”
I’ll close with a link to a post by Alix Jules, “10 Ways My White Friends Can Help Fight Racism.” Though I’ve seen many white friends and acquaintances on social media sites unfriend and block those who voted for Trump, I think they’d do well to follow Jules’ advice not to do so: “But how are you going to change their minds, even if just a little, if you’ve cut ties.”
So I won’t cut ties. Instead, I’ll question. I’ll amplify others’ questions.
It’s time to become a gadfly.