Last week, I hopped off a bus and voted early. It was quick, convenient, and came with two stickers: one for me and one for my son. As I walked out, the volunteers (mostly elder Black women) thanked me for voting. I said, “Of course!” One of the volunteers said, “Wow, it feels like all day, I’m seeing Black men with the same reply after voting.” As an Afro-Latino, that made me smile a bit. For years, I’ve thought about how a civic duty for some was a moral obligation for others in this country. In the last week, the Harris campaign was cautiously optimistic that their 100-day journey would triumph while the other side doubled down on a dark, bigoted vision for America. As waves of fascism hit countries large and small across the world, the influx felt more pernicious here where the specter was ever present.
Many of us knew the work we needed to do regardless of the results.
At this point, the world knows the story. The re-ascendance of Donald Trump to the presidency only confirmed the unapologetic white supremacy and patriarchy that looms over the nation. Pundits and politicians have used code words like “economic anxiety” and “wokeism” to explain Dems’ White House and Senate losses. However endearing, organizers rebuked the cavalcade of celebrities that came to represent the Harris campaign. (I thought Kamala Harris’ appearance on SNL was perhaps her most soulful moment of the campaign.)
Others like Rachel Maddow openly wonder why Trump didn’t seem to court votes like he wanted to win. But regardless of the reasons, it bears repeating that millions of people across the country, including in so-called blue states, voted for Trump’s return with indictments and all, this time with fewer guardrails against his agenda. 15 million people either stayed home during this election cycle or didn’t vote for Harris at all. Yes, the Palestinian genocide played a role in the discontent. So did courting the Cheneys who didn’t move many registered Republicans or independents, it seems.
But ultimately, the United States has a deep cultural problem, and one election won’t fix it. A country founded on enslavement, subjugation, and colonial terror can only run from its shadows but so long.
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