It's now been a couple of days since the election, and the shock is wearing off. There are a couple of different articles out there trying to understand what happened. I've been quiet mostly because I've been reading, and lurking, and figuring out my own reaction. I don't like to blog something when someone else has said it better, particularly when they've got data to back it up.
So why post now?
Well, we're still seeing the after-effects. Facebook posts from people terrified of what may come. Or Trump supporters offended by exactly those same reactions. Articles about horrid situations where people are harassed (and at least one where someone made up a story about being harassed, which of course some people will probably use to discredit the rest.)
I had a discussion with my Little this week, from Big Brothers Big Sisters. A little background here - she's 12 years old. White. But most of her friends are black. Her family is kind of rural, so she listens to country and rap and anything she doesn't consider 'old'. (She made me listen to that Panda song). After the election, she casually said that some of her friends were discussing killing themselves. The way she said it, it didn't sound like she was actually considering it...but what the hell are 12 year old girls doing, talking about killing themselves because Trump got elected? I don't know if the discussion was tied to the rumor of transgender teens committing suicide after his election.
People are scared. Genuinely worried about what will come. On the one hand, it seems a little premature. Trump hasn't even been inaugurated yet. The hateful incidents that have occurred since the election aren't state sponsored. It's just horrid people who are emboldened by Trump's win (and by state-sponsored, I don't just mean 'legal law enforcement'. Regimes like Iran have sometimes used 'volunteers' to enforce behavior. Sometimes states even pretend that they aren't behind it.)
That doesn't mean there's nothing to worry about, of course. I think everyone will be keeping a very close eye on how Trump governs. And will be paying close attention to anything that infringes on basic rights, or suggests rounding people up and putting them in internment camps, or suggests making people wear distinctive symbols.
At the same time - we've got a Republican president, Republican Senate, and Republican House. If Trump proposes something illegal, will the Republican Congress really stop him?
The problem with writing this post is that I don't know how to do justice to both sides. In a normal, run-of-the-mill situation, I would say let the Republicans run things. They'll probably overextend, misread their support, make mistakes, and basically lose soon enough. (Democrats and Republicans both tend to do this on a regular basis.)
And if it helps persuade people that some ideas don't work (like trickle-down economics), or that other ideas do, then so much the better. And, of course, I could be wrong about what works and what doesn't...so maybe their proposals will actually work.
Point is, normally we have the time and strength to experiment a bit. Go down a wrong path for a bit, and in the process prove that it's not going to get us where we want.
Only thing is, that works for policies that don't have the impact I described above. If it's just a matter of lowering taxes on the rich and deregulating finance, well...we'll survive another financial crisis I suppose. It'll make all the people who suffered under the Great Recession even more ticked off, and it would definitely create more suffering...but we'll survive.
But what about Muslims? Or Mexicans? I have a friend who married a Mexican, they have three children together. He wrote a heart-breaking post describing some of the situations they've already faced...and she's here legally. Here's a small excerpt:
Or what about gay marriage? What if Congress decided to ban gay marriage again, and Trump's Supreme Court nominee ensures it's not declared unconstitutional?
As for me - I don't know what Trump is going to do. He's been pretty unpredictable throughout the election. He's contradicted himself and reversed policy positions so many times that I don't think we have any idea what we're truly going to get.
So why post now?
Well, we're still seeing the after-effects. Facebook posts from people terrified of what may come. Or Trump supporters offended by exactly those same reactions. Articles about horrid situations where people are harassed (and at least one where someone made up a story about being harassed, which of course some people will probably use to discredit the rest.)
I had a discussion with my Little this week, from Big Brothers Big Sisters. A little background here - she's 12 years old. White. But most of her friends are black. Her family is kind of rural, so she listens to country and rap and anything she doesn't consider 'old'. (She made me listen to that Panda song). After the election, she casually said that some of her friends were discussing killing themselves. The way she said it, it didn't sound like she was actually considering it...but what the hell are 12 year old girls doing, talking about killing themselves because Trump got elected? I don't know if the discussion was tied to the rumor of transgender teens committing suicide after his election.
People are scared. Genuinely worried about what will come. On the one hand, it seems a little premature. Trump hasn't even been inaugurated yet. The hateful incidents that have occurred since the election aren't state sponsored. It's just horrid people who are emboldened by Trump's win (and by state-sponsored, I don't just mean 'legal law enforcement'. Regimes like Iran have sometimes used 'volunteers' to enforce behavior. Sometimes states even pretend that they aren't behind it.)
That doesn't mean there's nothing to worry about, of course. I think everyone will be keeping a very close eye on how Trump governs. And will be paying close attention to anything that infringes on basic rights, or suggests rounding people up and putting them in internment camps, or suggests making people wear distinctive symbols.
At the same time - we've got a Republican president, Republican Senate, and Republican House. If Trump proposes something illegal, will the Republican Congress really stop him?
The problem with writing this post is that I don't know how to do justice to both sides. In a normal, run-of-the-mill situation, I would say let the Republicans run things. They'll probably overextend, misread their support, make mistakes, and basically lose soon enough. (Democrats and Republicans both tend to do this on a regular basis.)
And if it helps persuade people that some ideas don't work (like trickle-down economics), or that other ideas do, then so much the better. And, of course, I could be wrong about what works and what doesn't...so maybe their proposals will actually work.
Point is, normally we have the time and strength to experiment a bit. Go down a wrong path for a bit, and in the process prove that it's not going to get us where we want.
Only thing is, that works for policies that don't have the impact I described above. If it's just a matter of lowering taxes on the rich and deregulating finance, well...we'll survive another financial crisis I suppose. It'll make all the people who suffered under the Great Recession even more ticked off, and it would definitely create more suffering...but we'll survive.
But what about Muslims? Or Mexicans? I have a friend who married a Mexican, they have three children together. He wrote a heart-breaking post describing some of the situations they've already faced...and she's here legally. Here's a small excerpt:
The people supporting Trump have probably never had to justify their marriage to a DHS agent.Can we honestly say that they have nothing to fear?
The people supporting Trump have never had to learn that their niece was crying because she's afraid the next President will deport her (completely legal) aunt.
The people supporting Trump will never have to explain to their children that yes, when people use those racial slurs, they are talking about mommy and they are talking about you.
The people supporting Trump don't know the bone-chilling, panic-attack inducing fear and helplessness that has consumed my family since one of the two major political parties chose as their Presidential candidate a man who has made overtly racist, unconstitutional anti-immigrant policies the cornerstone of his platform.
Or what about gay marriage? What if Congress decided to ban gay marriage again, and Trump's Supreme Court nominee ensures it's not declared unconstitutional?
As for me - I don't know what Trump is going to do. He's been pretty unpredictable throughout the election. He's contradicted himself and reversed policy positions so many times that I don't think we have any idea what we're truly going to get.
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