This morning I listened as my husband grew tearful, recounting how our 5 year-old neighbor, with a Hispanic father, was drawn to tears himself last night over the election.
Like so many people around the country, and world, I feel a mix of emotions, mostly from sadness to anger. And then no emotion at all. Just stunned. But I’m trying to harness the words of a dear friend: “redouble love.” The way to navigate this storm, at least at a personal level, is with love and compassion.
While I know that sexism, racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and ignorance played an alarming role in yesterday’s decision, I also sense that largely what drove people to the polls is frustration and disappointment with our political system. When I see it that way, it’s less a message of hate, and I have more compassion for my fellow citizens, for indeed we need to find ways to improve our systems and political equality.
Regardless, the way to absorb and rebound is to emanate love. Not to give up in seeking solutions around poverty; economic, racial, and gender inequality; educational opportunity; equity in health care; green energy and climate change; our justice and criminal system; and a more equitable and just political system. We still have some politicians who will fight for these issues. We are also a country of nearly 2 million nonprofits. We are a country of tens of millions of people dedicated to these issues. If we focus on redoubling our efforts of love and compassion, justice and equality, yesterday’s display of red with Trump at the helm seems at least a little less harrowing.
This is painful and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this. Our campaign was never about one person or even one election. It was about the country we love and about building an America that’s hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted… I still believe as deeply as I ever have that if we stand together and work together with respect for our differences, strength in our convictions and love for this nation, our best days are still ahead of us.