This is some bullshit — but not surprising in the least.
America shows us time and time again who and what it is. Sometimes it subtly whispers what it thinks of people like me (and probably you). But the 290-plus electoral votes and more than 70,000,000 popular votes that have secured Republican Donald Trump’s presidential victory over his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, are loud and clear.
Trump’s win — the first time he’s ever won the popular vote, mind you — is a “fuck you, we don’t care about your rights as people of color, women, immigrants, the working class, etc.” It’s a reminder that sometimes, even when you’re twice as good, you get a fraction as much. It’s a message about whose livelihoods matter and whose don’t. It’s not just a look into what we’re anticipating for the next four years, but a reminder of the haunting past this country refuses to confront.
We’re going back. And we didn’t need a too-on-point campaign slogan from Harris to know that.
For over a decade, we’ve seen the protections and rights our ancestors fought for get struck down in both de facto and de jure ways — some due to Trump’s actions, others due to the same symptoms of systemic injustice and hate that led to him getting elected president in 2016 and now 2024.
In 2013, we saw the Supreme Court deem a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, leading states to enact restrictive and discriminatory voting laws. In 2022, the high court also struck down its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, effectively telling women that their choice on whether to have an abortion is not up to them, but up to overpaid men in suits. Then we saw an end to affirmative action in college admissions and an attack on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the workplace that aim to give underrepresented communities a much-needed boost in industries that have historically shut them out.
That’s just policy. Trump, the bigot he is, consistently demeaned and belittled women and people of color during his presidency and political campaigns. Under his administration, we saw a rise in white supremacy — emboldened by the same man America elected this week — with Trump saying there were “fine people on both sides” of clashes at a white nationalist rally.
On Jan. 6, 2021, we watched him stoke an insurrection that led to a mob storming the U.S. Capitol after he refused to participate in a peaceful transfer of presidential power.
It’s not enough that Trump has been convicted of multiple felonies — though he didn’t get the “lock him up” treatment received by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his 2016 opponent — and has been hit with a number of other criminal charges, or that he was impeached twice while in office. He is the epitome of white privilege, and that’s valid enough to make America see this con artist, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, as a businessman who can help them realize the American dream.
Even those whom his policies negatively impact aren’t exempt from drinking the Kool-Aid.
I’m not surprised that we’re here again. I’m not even disappointed, as that would assume that I had faith in this country acting in its best interest.
Of course, a Black and Indian woman, the daughter of immigrant parents who was educated at a historically Black university ran a damn-near flawless presidential campaign — even with only a few months to execute — lost. If you look at her résumé, Harris was the most qualified presidential candidate this country has ever seen.
But as so many people of color in this country already know, you can be the most qualified and prepared candidate, but that’s not always enough to top white privilege — especially when you’re a Black woman, the most “disrespected,” “unprotected” and “neglected” person in America, according to Malcolm X and more than 400 years of historical events both told and untold.
Harris got this far because of those who came before her — Shirley Chisholm, Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan, to name a few. She got stopped in her tracks because of the same misogynoir these women endured. And the double standard she faced can’t be ignored. If Trump was a prosecutor and Harris was convicted of multiple felonies, she wouldn’t have even been considered for the role of Democratic presidential nominee.
Trump is exactly what America gets. He’s the son of racism, sexism, genocide, colonization and capitalism at work. He’s promised to be a “dictator,” at least on day one of his administration; disrupt the system of checks and balances that would hold him accountable; deport millions of migrants; gut the Department of Education; and freeze regulations on climate change. There’s nothing patriotic, noble or smart about what Trump has vowed to do in his second term.
To all of us who are concerned about the next four years and the future of this country, this is a reminder to focus on our survival. Fight for our survival. Never compromise on our survival. That’s how our ancestors made alchemy out of the most fucked-up situations. That’s how we managed to get to the point where we can even cast a vote for a Black and Indian woman to be president.
The fight forward must go on. And it can’t just be on the backs of those who have been tirelessly working toward progress all along. (Read: Black women.)
We Need Your Support
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
This isn’t an awakening, but a reminder for us to never forget that the blood this country was built on will continue to spill until America truly reckons with itself. Until we all reckon with how our past still affects us today.