On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the American people elected Donald J. Trump to be the 47th president of the United States. The choice represents so much more than simply who sits in the Oval Office – it was a choice for the future of the country, shining a light through deep fractures in a deeply divided and troubled nation headed down democracy’s darkest path.
Trump’s victory was decisive as he captured every swing state and 50.3% of the popular vote over Vice President Kamala Harris. We are no longer a nation driven by dreams, progress and possibility as America is fabled to be. Rather, this election proved that fear, anger and resistance to change are truly at the helm.
Harris’ candidacy provided the possibility of smashing through American politics’ tallest glass ceiling: electing a woman of color to the nation’s highest office. To many, Harris symbolizes a way forward for a society that feels like it is slipping backward in both cultural values and legislation. Contrary to the chants of thousands of supporters at her rallies, we are going back.
Immigration and the economy took the top slots in Trump’s third presidential campaign. At every opportunity, from rallies to loosely related debate questions, the now president-elect capitalized on every opportunity to engage the American people’s fear about finances and paint violent narratives about the nation’s immigrants.
The polls show that these were not the just ramblings of a crazed convict. They mobilized millions of real Americans with real fears, which turned into real votes.
Policies promised by Trump pose serious and legitimate threats of harm to many people who have been in the historical line of fire. From waning federal reproductive rights protections to controlling public education teaching topics like history and critical race theory, women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals and so many more will feel the impacts of the Trump administration.
As the new President-elect’s 34 felony convictions hang in the balance, we can now see the cracks in one of the foundational principles of democracy – that no one is above the law, including those who create and enforce it. Bolstered by the Republican-controlled Senate and House of Representatives, as well as a conservative Supreme Court, Trump’s hunger for power may be left unchecked in a way unlike any U.S. president before.
Over the course of Trump’s second term in office, many of us will be graduating from college and joining the workforce as we take the torch of being the nation’s next generation of leaders, business owners and societal stakeholders.
After this Election Day, it is clear we must prepare to bear the weight of a nation in fragments, trying to not let any of the pieces fall.
In this election, America chose fear, hate and division as the winner, sending the nation down a path of uncertainty. We, the American people, chose to place our own fears above the well-being and safety of those who need it most.
In this election, America chose to ignore the warnings of a dark history, one plagued with immense inequality and suffering of so many. The danger we now face under deeply flawed leadership is that the faults of the present will soon be compounded by those of the past that generations fought and died to see the end of.
This election we failed our communities, our neighbors and our futures. And now, so many will pay the price.
But fear cannot be met with fear, and hate cannot be met with hate. The path forward must be paved by lifting those around us who others are trying to silence.
The United States was constructed with the faults for absolute power at the forefront. From the division of powers between branches of government to the rights of protest and the press in the First Amendment, we the people have the power to combat tyranny and division, if only we are willing to wield it.
Now is not the moment we give up or turn a blind eye to the threats to American democracy and its people Trump promises to enact. Now is the time we must remain watchful and critical, vocal and uncompromising. The very rights of us and our fellow citizens depend upon it.
In order to form a more perfect union, in fear must we persist.
