To Whom to Address the Rage over Trump’s dominating the election and winning in many blue states unexpectedly: Well, the “Silent Majority” is who. While banter and slamming perspectives and prognostications were offered at a non stop basis for nearly a year and a half, and every journalist on cable news became an authority on politics, these folks just hung back and waited their turn. They had their turn in the election results; there is a report that 63% white men and 53% white women predominantly brought in the vote for Trump. College educated white men and suburban women was the perspective offered. On the other hand, Trump only got 3% of black women’s votes, 13% black men; 33% latino, and 26% latino men. So who are we to be in rage about?
The evening my friends and I spent, devastated as the evening wore on, with numbers and states flying by so fast, and the irreconcilable difference between what we with our commitments to the campaign through donations, calling voters, and reading everything around the issue of the candidates, we felt well I’ll say it-smug. Surely that thug who said and did classless things, and never apologized with what pundits called a makeshift campaign staff would come out over the dignity and power of Hillary Clinton. We had no recourse, we had no volley of conversation, we had nothing when the results poured in and the grim feeling of the room prevailed. A huge table full of food that remained mostly uneaten. Any bit of engagement with each other died as we absorbed what was happening.
Well, the people have spoken is what is true, and that’s what happened. Yes, well, she won the popular vote but that’s not the basis for election and we don’t change the game at the end because we don’t like the result. Democracy is a messy business; we should know as adults now that candidates like Donald Trump represent an aspect of our country-like it or not. In fact, SNL has had such a good time showing us the humor behind the Alec Baldwin Trump and the Hillary they present. This week, they ought to show the humor of a whole bunch of democrats who felt superior to the orange one, and rightly so by many measures, but in fact, we have been betrayed because of all we don’t want to see.
The dissatisfied college graduate white man, the black man who has heard little over the past two years that would indicate criminal justice and jobs would be at the top of the list of the newly elected President. They didn’t feel they would be at the top of the list. Plain and simple.
To the white women who voted for Trump, with all his 1950’s attitudes toward women and his arm candy wife, Trump spoke to them. There is the fact also that sexism is not exclusive to men, but women are known to have an ambivalence toward women in power. Jury behavior stats, for instance, have lawyers work within the knowledge that a jury of women will be harder on a woman in court.
So who is there to be in rage about? Where should the anger live? Truth is the folks who voted in Trump have done so within the limitations of the electoral process. Now, that doesn’t mean anybody who has been working for the measures of economic, social and racial equality has anything more to do today than they would have had Hillary Clinton been elected. The rally Bernie started must now for sure grow and respond to the need for forward action.
As Van Jones said: grieve, rest, and then get back on the job. That’s what there is to do with the energy released by this election, the only way to move forward is to focus in the direction of all we will continue to fight for.
