The following paragraphs are reactions to the election from my
relatively small group of Facebook friends. These comments are among the most
heart-felt and eloquent statements I have ever received from personal
friends. These are truly honest
statements of deepest conviction from the depths of the soul.
As I was reading, it occurred to me that there were similar
themes in all of the posts: fear, shame for our country, anger, concern for the
future of society, the environment, and the international community. So I gathered them up into a single document,
to place on this blog for all to read.
I included a few words about the identity of the author of each
post, just enough to characterize each author as an individual, with personal concerns about life and the lives of others.
Chemist, Missionary’s daughter, raised overseas, married with
a young child–
I'm scared.
In the past few days, we
have white supremacists marching in celebration. We have brown schoolchildren
(many born on American soil) being told by their peers that they will be
deported. We have high school students intimidating their classmates. We have
women being threatened for wearing a hijab. We have members of the LGBTQ
community being threatened and harassed. We have swastikas and all manner of
hateful graffiti cropping up on every available surface.
This is not the America
we are capable of being. This is not what the free world is supposed to look
like. This is not a society worth being proud of. Now I -know- not all Trump
supporters think this way. But it isn't enough to not-think it. To see it and
say nothing is to tacitly condone it. To ignore the elephant in the room is to
give it your silent blessing. So, if you think all of this is wrong? Don't just
think it. Say it. Say it loud, say it early, and say it often. Shout it.
Confront it where you encounter it. Let everyone know that this is not okay,
and that America is capable of being better than this.
Mother of adult children –
I hate going out into
the community and having people think that I voted for Trump, wondering if I am
anti-minority, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, because I am a middle-aged white woman.
Classmate, geologist, Japanese-American anti-racism educator. Her father served in the U.S. military immediately after WWII.
This week I'm posting in FB political fray (more often it's all about my awesome kids and dogs). But as you know, for 20 years my passion has been anti-racism organizing. I'm devastated. Trump is aligned with the KKK and he has exposed the dangerous racial prejudice in millions of people in this country. The record turnout of voters was not for the most qualified candidate but sadly for Jim Crow.
College senior, writer –
I have never been so
terrified for my future and the future of my family and friends.
I am afraid and if you
can't see why, I'm going to need you to go unfriend me because clearly you
don't know me well enough to be considered my friend.
It's not so much the
governmental changes that I fear exclusively, though they're significant. Primarily, I worry about a cultural shift where
behaviors of racism, sexism, etc, become more normalized because of our leader
exhibiting such behaviors. I can keep my head down, I can get by, but at the
end of the day I am a woman in a country so afraid of a woman leader that we
elected a bigot. It is the climate surrounding his election that I am truly
afraid of, not the man himself.
Geology classmate, retired –
After a long, pretty
much sleepless, night...for the very first time in my life, I am embarrassed to
be called an American. I am ashamed of that portion of our country that found
ANY redeeming qualities in the baboon we collectively just elected.
I'll recover. WE will recover. One way or another, our country will survive. But this morning, I am ashamed.
The anger will come. After the pain.
I'll recover. WE will recover. One way or another, our country will survive. But this morning, I am ashamed.
The anger will come. After the pain.
My best buddy, for more
than 5 decades was on the email stream at 3:40 this morning, and we shared a
couple of notes back and forth. Quoting him here, because I don't have better
words right now...
-----
-----
My morning note to my
kids. I feel like I failed them.
And lo, a darkness fell
upon the Earth and covered the land so that day was night and the animals of
the ground and sky ventured not forth from their burrows and nests.
The last time I was this
disappointed about an election outcome was in 1980 when Reagan defeated
Carter... It felt like the world had ended the morning after. I was working in
Idaho then, and still remember driving around the countryside in a state of
shock.
It is now up to your
generation to set a new path forward into the future, one that includes and
treats all people equally, that does not know sex or skin color or ethnic
origin, and treats each other and the Earth with respect.
Where things ended last
night is where they start this morning. The battle has begun.
Love,
Dad
Dad
Harvard Law grad, mother of young children
A lot of reactions and
quotes on Facebook this morning. The one that sticks with me most: "it
must be nice to be able to look past racism when it doesn't affect you."
I would say the same of
being able to look past bullying, restricting who people can marry and even
openly love, abuse and sexual assault, objectification of women, lies, and hate
speech against people of all ages who face intimidation and discrimination
because of disability, gender and gender identification, sexuality, religion,
ethnicity, and national origin.
I won't tell anyone what
to do or think, and even the advice about comforting kids feels incomplete
right now. I'm not feeling particularly like building bridges. Some of the
aforementioned issues are divisions that I don't believe should ever be
bridged. So, I can just speak for the impact of this election on my decisions
going forward.
This has changed how I
feel about discussing sensitive political issues. In recent years, I have been
afraid of offending friends and family who disagree. I've read the posts about
respecting political choices, about being tired of political posts on social
media, and about agreeing to disagree. I can subscribe to those ideas to an
extent: I absolutely agree with kindness toward all people. I absolutely agree
that all people, no matter what they think, should be treated with respect.
I will not, however,
stop speaking out against discrimination, against injustice, against bullying,
and against lies.
The election is over,
but I will continue to be vocal about my support of LGBT rights.
I will be vocal about my
support of women's rights and women's issues.
I will be vocal about my
support of decisions based on science and on the long-term survival of our
planet.
I will be vocal about
opposing policies that harm any person because of where they are from, their
religious beliefs, or the color of their skin.
Repeating the poem from
theologian Martin Niemöller, on the rise of Nazism:
"First they came
for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
To my friends and family
who are afraid right now: I will stand with you, and I will not be silent.
Retired geologist, father of adult children
So, let's tally up what
will change --
> ACA (Obamacare) is gone, and with it my daughter's health insurance. I don't know what company will insure someone with epilepsy and high prescription medicine costs doing free-lance art work for a living.
> ACA (Obamacare) is gone, and with it my daughter's health insurance. I don't know what company will insure someone with epilepsy and high prescription medicine costs doing free-lance art work for a living.
> Roe v. Wade is
gone. Abortion rights will disappear, at least in red states. The result will be amateur abortions and
deaths, and hundreds of thousands of unwanted babies. Women whose pregnancies
have gone wrong (like my wife some 28 years ago), will be compelled to carry a
baby for nine months, only to give birth to a baby doomed to die at birth. Such pregnancies are a danger to a woman’s
life, but few doctors will be available or willing to risk providing an
abortion.
> Women’s access to
birth control may be restricted, not covered by insurance, or not available
through insured prescription services (e.g., the Supreme Court Hobby Lobby
decision).
> The Paris climate
change accord is gone, and any reasonable action on climate change.
> Scientific research
into climate change will be stifled, through redirection of the USGS, NASA, and
NOAA, as already pledged by GOP senators.
> An end to free
trade will mean the return of inflation, a scourge that was eliminated from our
economy because of the efficiencies of free trade. This will mean a higher cost of merchandise
and necessities, and a lower standard of living for those on fixed incomes.
> Trade wars with our
trading partners will mean a decline in economic activity. We already know the result of the
Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, which was a major cause of the Great Depression.
> Ten million illegal
immigrants leading peaceful and productive lives in the United States will
spend another 4 years outside of any legal protections. Many will be deported
to a bleak future.
> America will take
no responsibility to care for refugees, although we share responsibility for
the conflicts which shattered their lives.
> LGBT rights will be
taken away.
> NATO defense of the
Baltic states is gone.
> Uncertain relations
with Islamic countries. Will we just withdraw, or start bombing
indiscriminately?
> Cuts to government
poverty programs.
> Public lands may be
given to the states to auction off, as pledged in the Republican platform.
> Conservation
efforts of all kinds will be impaired.
>
Conservative-dominated Supreme Court for a generation. The Court will give more
power to corporations, churches, and wealthy political donors.
> Weakening of the
separation of church and state. There will be more influence by churches in the
schools, courts and local governments.
Oh, and we will make
America great again.
Anything else?
Anything else?
Young professional in Public Health
Today, we put a racist, bigoted, sexual predator in the white house. Yes, I am deeply saddened that we were unable to break that highest, thickest glass ceiling. But even more, I am heartbroken and afraid of what this means for our country.
I am scared for myself. As a woman of reproductive age who does not plan on having children in the immediate future, I am terrified of losing control over my decision of if, when, and how to have children.
I am scared for my friends and family who fear their marriages and families being ripped apart, who fear for their lives and safety. To my black, brown, Latinx, Muslim, immigrant, differently abled, and LGBT+ friends and family: I am sorry we failed you. I am sorry we did not do more. I'm sorry for the hatred that has become more brazen, because it has come out of the mouth of our president-elect. If you need to talk, yell, scream, cry, or be hugged, know that I am here for you. You deserve better, and I will fight with you to ensure that you get it.
I'm scared for the rest of the world. The US election does not only impact Americans. Our president-elect has made very clear his feelings on climate change. Decisions on climate made in the next 4 years will impact our entire world for generations to come. US foreign aid saves millions of lives, providing access to AIDS drugs, contraception, malaria prevention and treatment, and life-saving medical treatments.
Today I woke up and spent the first 20 minutes of my day trying not to vomit. I went to work, managing to not cry until my last metro stop. I had to stop after getting off metro to breathe through and stave off a panic attack. I cried during Hillary's concession speech, during our all-staff meeting, on the bus on the way home.
So first, remember this feeling. This deep sick feeling in the pit of your stomach that makes you want to curl up in a ball and scream. For many who live with inequality and injustice daily, this feeling isn't new. But for those most privileged among us, this feeling will fade as our lives return to some semblance of normalcy and complacency. So remember it. Sit with it. Get to know it.
Today, be kind to yourself. Practice self-care. And once you have healed, pull that gut-wrenching feeling up to the surface and use it to fight for your friends, your family, and your country.
Young energy professional
Repost -- I feel like I
don't even know my country tonight. People who proudly wear their
"deplorable" label and don their red cap don't realize how unsafe
they've made people feel – esp. my friends whose mosques have been targeted, my
friends who are stopped-and-frisked for no reason, my friends who can't hold
their partner's hand in public out of fear, my friends who have had to accept
misogyny turned mainstream.
But to my friends: I'm
ready to fight for you. Trump is not some political genius, he's a con artist
who rose to prominence through a racist birtherism lie and has been normalized
by the ignorance of echo chambers. I'm heartbroken, but we're not going
backward. I'm ready to fight for you.
Message me and let's get
started.
Geology classmate, retired
Heartsick for our
country and the world.
A British friend just
pointed out that they consider today 9/11 (day/month). Similar level of fear
and despair for half of the country, but this time the attack on our values
came from within :(
Friend -- Frankly, I think
this is far worse for our country than 9/11. I know it doesn't sound right to
say that, and I mean no disrespect to the 3,000 murdered on that terrible day,
but an attack from the outside is easier to understand than this being
blindsided from within. And I think that ultimate the consequences of this
election will be worse for our country and the entire world. Betting that
somehow the literal body count of a Trump presidency will be higher than the
attacks of 9/11, too.
I'm leaving Facebook for
awhile. I'm too angry with some friends and family and I need to find some calm
if I ever hope to reengage with them. If you cannot comprehend the fear and
upset of over half the population, maybe you should ask for help understanding
rather than being derisive and reaffirming your lack of compassion and empathy
for others.
Classmate, librarian, mother of Down’s syndrome child
A racist sexual predator
who cheats his employees, mocks the disabled and thinks he's smart for not
paying taxes has been elected the president of the US. I'm still stunned and
heartbroken. His words have already unleashed the darkest urges of Americans
and given permission to those who share his prejudices to act on them. What
kind of world will this be for my disabled daughter?
I don’t think you
understand us right now.
I think you think this
is about politics.
I think you believe this
is all just sour grapes; the crocodile tears of the losing locker room with the
scoreboard going against us at the buzzer.
I can only tell you that
you’re wrong. This is not about losing an election. This isn’t about not
winning a contest. This is about two very different ways of seeing the world.
Hillary spoke about a
diverse America; one where religion or skin color or sexual orientation or
place of birth aren’t liabilities or deficiencies or moral defects. Her
campaign was one of inclusion and connection and interdependency. It was about
building bridges and breaking ceilings. It was about going high.
Trump imagined a very
selective America; one that is largely white and straight and Christian, and
the voting verified this. Donald Trump has never made any assertions otherwise.
He ran a campaign of fear and exclusion and isolation—and that’s the vision of
the world those who voted for him have endorsed.
They have aligned with
the wall-builder and the professed p*ssy-grabber, and they have co-signed his
body of work, regardless of the reasons they give for their vote:
Every horrible thing
Donald Trump ever said about women or Muslims or people of color has now been
validated.
Every profanity-laced
press conference and every call to bully protestors and every ignorant diatribe
has been endorsed.
Every piece of
anti-LGBTQ legislation Mike Pence has championed has been signed-off on.
Half of our country has
declared these things acceptable, noble, American.
This is the disconnect
and the source of our grief today. It isn’t a political defeat that we’re
lamenting, it’s a defeat for Humanity.
We’re not angry that our
candidate lost. We’re angry because our candidate’s losing means this country
will be less safe, less kind, and less available to a huge segment of its
population, and that’s just the truth.
Those who have always
felt vulnerable are now left more so. Those whose voices have been silenced
will be further quieted. Those who always felt marginalized will be pushed
further to the periphery. Those who feared they were seen as inferior now have
confirmation in actual percentages.
Those things have
essentially been campaign promises of Donald Trump, and so many of our fellow
citizens have said this is what they want too.
This has never been about
politics.
This is not about one
candidate over the other.
It’s not about one’s
ideas over another’s.
It is not blue vs. red.
It’s not her emails vs.
his bad language.
It’s not her dishonesty
vs. his indecency.
It’s about overt racism
and hostility toward minorities.
It’s about religion
being weaponized.
It’s about crassness and
vulgarity and disregard for women.
It’s about a barricaded,
militarized, bully nation.
It’s about an
unapologetic, open-faced ugliness.
And it is not only that
these things have been ratified by our nation that grieve us; all this hatred,
fear, racism, bigotry, and intolerance—it’s knowing that these things have been
amen-ed by our neighbors, our families, our friends, those we work with and
worship alongside. That is the most horrific thing of all. We now know how
close this is.
It feels like living in
enemy territory being here now, and there’s no way around that. We wake up
today in a home we no longer recognize. We are grieving the loss of a place we
used to love but no longer do. This may be America today but it is not the
America we believe in or recognize or want.
This is not about a
difference of political opinion, as that’s far too small to mourn over. It’s
about a fundamental difference in how we view the worth of all people—not just
those who look or talk or think or vote the way we do.
Grief always laments
what might have been, the future we were robbed of, the tomorrow that we won’t
get to see, and that is what we walk through today. As a nation we had an
opportunity to affirm the beauty of our diversity this day, to choose ideas
over sound bytes, to let everyone know they had a place at the table, to be the
beacon of goodness and decency we imagine that we are—and we said no.
The Scriptures say that
weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning. We can’t see that
dawn coming any time soon.
And this is why we
grieve.
Retired female minister –
My idealism is mightily
bruised.
I know that the
religious right has felt their country slipping away from how they were brought
up, away from all they feel is good and right and, most importantly, away from
their understanding of God's Law; and that this slipping has been a slow
movement over many years.
- 1967 Teaching evolution in schools is protected by freedom of speech
- Late 1960s and early 1970s Sex education was opposed because it promoted promiscuity ... and the Sexual Revolution proved it.
- 1973 Abortion is legalized
- 1980s Courts began ruling that religious displays are not allowed on public land, including nativity scenes and Ten Commandment displays at City Hall
- 1990s to present Stem Cell Research
- 1994 first state legalized Physician Assisted Death
- 2015 same-sex marriage is legalized
(As I made this list I found it interesting that so much of what was done or undone had to involve legislation and/or the courts, and God's Law.)
- 1967 Teaching evolution in schools is protected by freedom of speech
- Late 1960s and early 1970s Sex education was opposed because it promoted promiscuity ... and the Sexual Revolution proved it.
- 1973 Abortion is legalized
- 1980s Courts began ruling that religious displays are not allowed on public land, including nativity scenes and Ten Commandment displays at City Hall
- 1990s to present Stem Cell Research
- 1994 first state legalized Physician Assisted Death
- 2015 same-sex marriage is legalized
(As I made this list I found it interesting that so much of what was done or undone had to involve legislation and/or the courts, and God's Law.)
On Tuesday night, my
idealism got beaten up pretty bad. This is not simply the idealism of growing
up in the 60s. My idealism is as a woman of faith who puts greater importance
on how we treat each other than on how we legislate the way others should treat
each other. All of a sudden, my ideal America began shaking, threatening to tip
over.
- refugees welcomed into safety and given a chance to thrive
- racism and all other negative isms noticeably decreasing
- religious freedom, even religions that are not Judeo-Christian
- a fair percentage gap between the wages of the CEO and the cleaning lady
- true concern and care for the environment
- all people are equal and so all share the same rights
- generosity of the riches of our country with all the world
- health care for everyone
- a willingness to use our military to protect against cruel dictators and genocide throughout the world
These are among the ideals of America that make her great and these are just some of the ideals that Christians can support and work toward.
- refugees welcomed into safety and given a chance to thrive
- racism and all other negative isms noticeably decreasing
- religious freedom, even religions that are not Judeo-Christian
- a fair percentage gap between the wages of the CEO and the cleaning lady
- true concern and care for the environment
- all people are equal and so all share the same rights
- generosity of the riches of our country with all the world
- health care for everyone
- a willingness to use our military to protect against cruel dictators and genocide throughout the world
These are among the ideals of America that make her great and these are just some of the ideals that Christians can support and work toward.
My bruises will heal and
I will again pray that I may be used to spread God's Grace.
Fifth-grade teacher, foreign-born, recently
retired –
Okay ,
so I lied. Here I am on Facebook. I'm only here because I have heard so much
from my friends and former students about how disillusioned they are with the
electoral process and how disturbed they are by what this election showed about
the American people. I suggest that you can take solace in this. It's easy to
gain power, it's not so easy to rule a nation. When Americans begin to suffer
the repercussions of what I suspect will be some significant changes, they
might not be so happy with the choice they made. It will be difficult for
Republicans to deflect blame for the problems that ensue when they are in
charge of the entire government. It is possible that we will all be proven
wrong. Perhaps Mr Trump was just acting. Perhaps he will rise to the occasion.
More likely the American system will prove itself to be fairly resilient. We
will go through a rough period but then change will come once again. You
can also take solace in the fact that people have felt as you feel now for
quite some time. Consider this quote from HL Mencken: Nobody ever went broke
underestimating the intelligence of the American people. This too shall pass.
Friend
-- If we are not killed or deported in the process
Classmate, professional theater actor and musician
I am scared.
I am scared for our
planet, because four years from now may be too late to take action to avoid
catastrophic climate change.
I am afraid for my
friends and relatives of color, for my friends and relatives whose faith is
other than Christian, for my friends and relatives who are immigrants, for my
friends and relatives who are LGBT and/or Q, for my friends and relatives who
have a disability, all of whom have now been given even more cause to feel that
they are not full citizens of this great country, and who may be the target of
folks who have been emboldened to think that their sense of entitlement is
just.
I am afraid for all the
women I know and love, that their long march toward equality with men must
stretch even longer. (I also grieve for my mother, who at 86 may not now live
to see a woman become president of the United States, something she has dreamed
of for a very long time.)
I am afraid for my
country, that our faith in our institutions of government, and of the media,
even our mechanisms for agreeing on what is true and what is a lie, have been
deeply, deeply damaged.
I am afraid that, while
I trust that Martin Luther King is right about the arc of history, justice is
even further off than I thought.
I know I have plenty of
company. I read today that 55% of Democrats are scared of Republican policies,
and 49% of Republicans are scared of the Democrats’. As a character in a play I
was just in said (about the previous presidential election): “I’d ask them—you both
spent how much on this election? I think I read—two billion dollars. Maybe I’m
wrong but it seems to me it was mostly spent scaring people about the other
guy. So now—look what you’ve got—a whole lot of people who are very scared.”
That is indeed what we’ve
got. We got what we paid for.
But.
Hillary won the popular
vote. (The only reason she is not our President-Elect is because our Founding
Fathers—as they then were—didn’t trust the unwashed masses and invented the
Electoral College to save us all from demagogues and charlatans. Thanks, guys.)
Let me repeat that:
Hillary won the popular vote. If you think you woke up Wednesday morning in a
country you don’t know, you’re a little less than half right.
I’m sure Hillary feels
much better.
But.
I can’t spend the next
four years scared. That won’t do either my oncoming ulcers or this country any
good. I’m not suggesting that there is nothing to fear. But fear helped get us
here—I can’t see how being (only) scared will get us to a better place. One of
my acting teachers was fond of saying, “You don’t run away from a bear, you run
toward a tree.” So where are my trees?
A few days ago I posted
a video of a flashmob dancing in pantsuits in Union Square. There were all
ethnicities, there were men, there were strong women who weren’t shy about
taking centerstage. They were joyful, cheeky, determined; they weren’t in
lockstep but they were unified. As a metaphor for the America I love, it’s
pretty damn good. I can run toward that tree.
My other trees are you.
Each of you. All of you. Whenever I’m inclined to hide under a rock, will you
please remind me of that dance? Or better yet, tell me about the America you
love, and what you’re doing to dance it into being.
One of our pastors is
fond of using a benediction adapted from William Sloane Coffin:
“May God grant you the
grace never to sell yourself short. Grace to risk something big for the sake of
something good. Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for
anything but truth and too small for anything but love.”
Amen.
Retired Norwegian musician, grandmother, former resident of USA and Trinidad --
The world will never be safe again! I feel so sorry for my grandchildren and us all.
I feel for you all and it's a sad day for all of us! It was terrible to wake up to this shocking news. Will we ever feel safe again and will the next generation ever forgive us?
Neighbor, college friend, breast cancer surgeon
Repost: If you wonder why so many of us are
scared...How many times was I told this election cycle that it was safe to vote
for Trump because all that bigotry was just bluster and would go away as soon
as he was elected. Bannon was just named his Chief Strategist?! Doesn't sound
like he wants those ideas to just go away as a campaign stunt.
Following: 1930s News article about the rise of Adolf
Hitler
Friend from high school church group, author of book of
children’s book on learning techniques.
It's time to look in the mirror.
What do you want to recall about yourself and what do you want
others to recall about you when you think back on this election?
It seems folks are able to remember every negative thing said
about each candidate, but very little about the good.
How is what is being said and done now having a positive effect
on our culture?
Rather than feeling angry, find a positive outlet for your
emotions.
If you don't like the way the opposition is behaving then
demonstrate the appropriate way to behave.
Make a donation, volunteer, do a good deed.
Not only will others benefit, you will begin to heal.
Anger breeds anger.
Goodness breeds goodness.
Do you like the way you feel right now?
Only you can change that.
