Donald Trump is going to be president, which shows me once and for all that there are a lot of things I should have done differently.
I should have known people who felt disillusioned by the state of our government would stomach flagrant character flaws in order to bring in someone they believed could shake up the political establishment in which they had lost faith, especially if they believed Clinton was just as deeply flawed as Trump.
I should have remembered that marriage equality, affordable health care, the Paris Agreement on climate change and the nation’s first black president, despite being signs of progress, did not mean everyone was happy with the direction in which that progress was taking us.
And I should have made a better estimate of the degree to which the cultural climate on my college campus was representative of the country at large, because apparently I was wrong when I thought I already understood the magnitude of national variations in political opinion.
I should have done those things before, but I will be sure to do them now.
I have a feeling that many who supported Clinton, or at least opposed Trump enough to vote for her, should have done those things as well. But it’s important to consider something else, too: what should we all do, whether we voted for Clinton, Trump, Johnson, Stein or anyone else, now that the election is over?
Most importantly, we should be active in denouncing bigotry and spreading love and respect.
I have seen many who voted for Trump would like to make it clear that they condone neither the racist, sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and generally discriminatory attitude of his campaign, nor the despicable acts that some of his more extreme supporters have felt emboldened to commit in his name.
If that’s true, there now arises an obligation for those voters to be vocal about what they will not accept from Trump, even as they support various aspects of his legislative agenda. We must embrace a national brand of irony that holds the citizens of this country to higher behavioral and moral standards than our president.
Trump said he felt entitled to do whatever he wanted to women. We must show women that they deserve to be respected. Trump said climate change was a hoax invented by the Chinese. We must resolve to take care of our planet. Trump said the majority of Mexican immigrants were murderers and rapists. We must create a culture in which people are judged by their character, not their nation of origin.
To do this well, we should all remain politically engaged. The presidential election cycle may have ended, but the political process never does. There will be midterm elections in 2018 concerning all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate, and changes of governors and state legislators will vary by state. Our continued participation is crucial.
Treating people well and acting responsibly are abilities that do not belong to any one group. Standing up for what’s right will be a mission we all share and one I hope we will all prioritize.
mareklei@indiana.edu
@foreverfloral97
Correction: Previously, this column mentioned a system of "universal health care" in the United States. This was intended to refer to "affordable health care," not universal. We apologize for the error.
