This is what I know from having lived a week in President-elect Donald Trump’s America.
Some are suggesting that his election is being blown out of proportion. Protests? Why? Isn’t this over the top? We didn’t act like this when Barack Obama won.
It’s tempting on the surface to believe this. But there has been plenty of visible dissent over the past eight years. It came in the form of the tea party, its own form of outburst, and then by way of years of obstruction in Congress.
The question about whether the reaction is over the top suggests that the problem is a more traditional disagreement with the winner of a presidential election — not with what this person said as a candidate and was cheered on for representing over the course of the past year.
For many, the protest is not about Trump not being their preferred candidate; it is about the fear that he might carry out some of his more dangerous ideas.
That some close to Trump — from within his inner circle, and his most prominent boosters — have thought seriously about registering immigrants on the basis of religious affiliation, even referring to Japanese internment camps as a precedent, goes beyond troubling. It’s downright frightening.
This is the reason why friends who have children of color have to quell their kids’ fears. Much of this rhetoric, even if it is never carried through to its logical conclusion, gives the green light to hate in our communities.
None of this is to mention Trump’s selection of Steve Bannon as chief strategist in the White House. Bannon has lived comfortably with the term “alt right,” which is an irresponsible euphemism for bigot.
Many feel bummed out that others have interpreted their vote for Trump as a sign of their alignment with the more radical groups — particularly far-right and white nationalist organizations — that celebrated and supported the Republican candidate.
I have had enough conversations with people I know to believe themselves decent and fair humans — and I believe the same about them — who never had that thought about their vote. People are pressed for time these days, and if you’re only catching news through your social media newsfeed, it’s entirely possible that the reality to which I was exposed to during the election was entirely different from the reality that you caught.
This is not to suggest that there weren’t plenty of people who were aware of these alignments and still cast their votes for Trump. Even if they didn’t align with these far-right groups themselves, they were able to look the other way in choosing Trump as our next president. I see enough post-election memes attacking fat women and leaders of color surfacing in social media streams to know that the white working class isn’t wholly exempt from motivations rooted in racial anxieties — even if the people spreading these messages don’t consider themselves closely aligned with white nationalist thinking.
In this week after Trump’s victory, I can’t help but wonder how much of this has taken place because of our new, “post-truth” society in which it is increasingly easy to decide upon a belief system, select sources that purport to maintain some journalistic integrity, and still live comfortably in an echo chamber.
For whatever concoction of reasons allowed this to be possible, whether those casting votes for Trump knew of his white nationalist associations or not, what is undeniable now that President-elect Trump is mainstream is that those carrying out harassment and violence have done so in his name, in reference to his campaign rhetoric and in connection with his campaign proposals.
Some of those experiences have taken place here in Maine.
Now that this is is our future — this is how we are moving forward — no matter how you saw Trump in the election, there is no reason why one should look the other way on what his rhetoric and the intentions of those around him can lead to by way of policy and by way of enabling acts of hate and aggression.
If you don’t want to be stereotyped as racist for your support of then-candidate Trump, it’s time to stand up against his proximity to hate.
Alex Steed has written about and engaged in politics since he was a teenager. He’s an owner-partner of a Portland-based content production company and lives with his family, dogs and garden in Cornish.
