Between the Election and Me

"I have never had so many emotions coursing through my Black body at one time...it's hard not to view life through that lens, especially now, as a Black man who will watch as our first Black president laves office and hands over this country to the worst possible option. And the majority of the people I work with, walk past in the store, smile at in courtesy, hold my toungue when I try to help them as part of my job and they lash out at me, meet on the street through friends who just want to see the good in everyone, even some people that look like me, voted for this man. They voted for what he stood for, they voted for the hate, they voted for the disgusting things he said about womenm they voted for what he said about immigrants, they voted for America to be 'great again'. I can't help but feel like they voted against me and the people I love and care about. They voted against our children, born and unborn. They voted against equality, they voted against tolerance, they voted against progress. The women who voted for him voted against themselves, white and non-white. These are the people who say they want to make this country great again but the act of voting for a man who only ever did what was best for himself is not great or admirable. It's arrogant, it's ignorant, it's scary and it is sad. We had the choice of two evils, there is really no way to look past that. But this country voted for the greater evil in a manner that came across as vindictive, almost in a manner of vengeance for having to endure a Black man in the White House. They voted for a man because his opponent was a woman, with political credentials, mind you, even though this man had no political history at all. Because he was the only white male to chose from. There is no way I can look at this any differently because this man has dominated headlines and news programs for a year or more, clearly stating his views and never backing down from them. THIS IS THE COUNTRY MY BLACK BODY LIVES IN. I AM CLEARLY SEPARATE, UNEQUAL TO THE AGENDA OF MANY AROUND ME. I see that clearer than I thought I saw it before. I am not disappointed, I feel commissioned. I'm burning with intent and purpose. I am forever changed. More to come... #speakonitwithmaxlit #speakingdownbarriers #preparation #ready #willing #able #here #comeforme (facebook post 11/10/16, the day after Election Day).



This started out as a facebook status update but when I finished, it morphed into something more in my mind. Could it be a new spoken word piece? I don't know. But as I read it, I felt power behind the words. They were empowering. They expressed exactly how I felt, not just about Trump but also about those individuals who, seemingly, found a way to justify voting for him. I came across an article later on in the day and I felt that my feelings weren't off in any way, shape, form or fashion. It was an  open letter to the Evangelical Church from a Black, middle class Evangelical Christian woman. Now I am not an Evangelical Christian by any means, but her sentiments helped me sift through some of my own feelings about what has just transpired with this election. One comment in particular stuck with me:


"Today is not the day to try and compare your feelings of eight years ago to their feelings today. Your life, your citizenship, your very existence was not minimized, marginalized or under attack; and it is not today."

 

I remember watching the election results with friends and realizing our feelings and reactions being very similar to the feelings and reactions of a lot of white Americans when Obama was elected in 2008. They felt like because a Black man was taking office, a socialist according to many of them, that their castles were about to come crashing down. They felt threatened by the power that he had been given and they felt betrayed by their own government. Before Obama was elected, it was improper to speak against the office of the president. It became trendy during the Obama administration. Today, we have Black people saying that we have to respect the office of president, despite who holds the seat. And that we do. But I cannot respect a man who doesn't even respect those who actually voted for him, let alone those who didn't. The outrage on this side of things isn't based on theory of Trump's citizenship or his hidden agenda. It isn't based on misquotes and conspiracy theories regarding his religion. And it isn't even wholly based on Trump as an individual, even though that carries a huge amount of weight. The outrage is based on the fact that this man ran on a platform of white American elitism, unabashedly. And won.

 

As of recent numbers, Hillary Clinton's popular vote lead over Donald Trump is around 1.7 million votes. But as we all very well know, that means absolutely nothing when it comes to winning elections. The telling numbers in that popular vote, though, at least to me, is the split between white Americans with college degrees and those without. According to the Pew Research Center, two-thirds (67%) of non-college whites backed Trump, compared with just 28% who supported Clinton. This resulted in a 39 point advantage for Trump among this group. This, again, may not mean much to most people but, to me, it says that even among those who wouldn't seem to be the type of people that a legitimate elitist agenda would be for or inclusive to them, they chose Trump over Hillary because of biases and prejudices. Whether it was because Hillary was  connected to the Obama administration as Secretary of State or if it was just because she was a woman can't be legitimately determined. While there were concerns over her using a private server for confidential documents, her handling of the Benghazi situation and funding concerns with the Clinton Foundation, she was a legitimately qualified candidate. Very flawed, but legitimate. Trump's qualifications, or lack thereof, can't be overlooked. And neither can what he stands for. And a voter stands for, at least some of, whatever it is that the candidate they voted for stands for, whether we like to admit that fact or not. And what does Trump stand for? The laundry list is well known.  

 

How can minorities and women as a whole not feel marginalized today? How can we not feel like America being "great again" doesn't include us? How did some women and even some Black people, in some cases even Democratic voters, vote for Donald Trump? What does that say about where we have come as a nation? Again, this isn't specifically nailing Donald Trump to the wall, even though that would be very easy to do. And it isn't me chafing at people's right to vote for whoever they decide to vote for. This is recognition of what the majority of the most of the white American public feels "American Greatness" is, even if it doesn't actually include them. And it is obvious that a white male heterosexual dominated society is what everyone who voted for Trump, of every race, color, creed and gender, feel this "great America" should be.

 

Is that last comment too extreme? No, and I will tell you why. The election of Barack Obama to this country's highest office could have and should have been a turning point in our American history, a history that has been riddled with gross injustices, indecencies and crimes against its own people, not to mention the slaughter of the indigenous tribes of this land and the enslavement of Africans and the placing of Japanese Americans in interment camps during WWII. The fact that it polarized our country is not surprising but it seemed as if maybe the thaw of white male supremacy in this country was, at least, beginning. But as racial and social issues were moved to the forefront of the American consciousness, as more marginalized groups began to speak out, as more and more people began to reject the American elitist agenda and began to embrace a more inclusionary one, the racist agendas of what was once thought to be an old ideology came roaring back. Black American men, woman and children became literally caught in the crosshairs of police and ordinary citizens (not to say that this started then, it just became more visible, as did the lack of justice to those responsible). Religious groups stepped up their shunning of those who didn't fit their warped agendas, American citizen or not. Children and adults that were struggling to find and establish their sexual identities were attacked, in some case violently and fatally, in ways we hadn't seen in decades. And finally, the line was drawn in dramtic fashion on Election night 2016 when Donald Trump, a man completely unqualified in many people's opinion to run the country, was elected to do just that.

 

Does anyone now still have issues with Colin Kaepernick or anyone else NOT standing for the national anthem?