Personalizing the Election
If there is anything I remember from my elementary social studies education it is that 1) Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, and 2) American citizens have the right and responsibility to vote. Though younger me may have struggled to keep voting facts straight, she would have had no problem recalling them this year. This election will be one that will remain in the memory of everyone, voter or not.
My knowledge of elections evolved after elementary school. What once seemed like simply pressing a button for the person you liked best developed layers of nuance. I came to understand that elections are a time for the people to speak their mind, present their ideas and make decisions that will impact their lives, all while ideally avoiding chaos.
I am a Black woman who emigrated from Africa and currently holds permanent residency in this country. My close community is primarily composed of other immigrants (African or not, with varying immigration statuses), strong ambitious women and students (of life and knowledge). And as such, points of my identity were up for debate this past election season.
I am Black. My family is Black. My community is composed of Black people. So when issues of racial justice and living while Black in America become politicized and develop into voting issues, the impacts hit close to home. With the current state of race in America and the stance of candidates on racial justice, the outcome of the election had the potential to change how I, and many others, navigate the world. Even after a winner has been declared, this possibility still stands. This extends further than legal issues and into comfort. How comfortable will it be to walk around my neighborhood, drive through the streets and peruse the stores I frequent?
This issue of comfort, though very arbitrary, is important to how we live our lives. It impacts how we learn. When situations outside school are stressful, the stress bleeds into the classroom. In order for equity to be achieved within the class, strides must be made to achieve it outside.
To be uncomfortable in a country that promotes the opposite incites the need for change.
I am a woman with strong ambitions and a stronger will to achieve my goals in life. Yet to do so, I have to be able to decide on my life, my possessions, and my body. It truly is an indescribable feeling to have a part of you so integral be debated by those who you do not know and identify with.
The influence of those we elect extends further than just policy and legislation but also into how people act. When actions of harassment or mockery towards anyone by a powerful figure at any level are overlooked and even treated as just “locker room talk”, what we see as acceptable changes.
Nancy, a Kentucky student and voter in this past election, put it best when she said, “you [could] already see a shift of the attitudes of our country in the past four years towards BIPOC people and women; it’s sure to keep going in that direction again, and I don’t know how welcome or safe I’d feel in a country like that.”
We should not teach lenience on issues that do not warrant it as this impacts student to student interactions at all levels. How students treat each other in school is reflective of what they have learned and has ramifications on how they learn.
I am a permanent resident. This means I cannot vote but retain many rights and responsibilities of a citizen. There will come a time for me, like many others in my community, to either apply for citizenship or renew my status. Though immigration was not a forefront issue of the election, it is one that is at the forefront of my community. The policies President-elect Biden puts in place regarding citizenship directly impact the foundation of our lives in America.
I must acknowledge that my community is not the one most directly impacted by the current immigration policy. Immigration from Central America, not Africa, is on the pedestal. But when immigrants are antagonized and rhetoric claiming outsiders are ill-intentioned criminals spreads, most people will not take the time to ask you where you are from or why you immigrated. Withholding citizenship, and stalling citizenship processing will affect me in the time where I will need to change my legal status.
The treatment of any people should be a concern for everyone, if not out of humanity then in considering the precedent it sets. When we become comfortable with negativity, the next extremity does not seem as bad as before. That is a bad chain to start.
My identity as a black immigrant woman changed my lens on this election and created a spectrum of issues to weigh and consider. And there is nuance within the spectrum. All too often, elections become a binary fight between sides: Republican vs. Democrat, candidate B and candidate A. And if we are not careful, we can lose sight of what really is at stake.
As President Biden calls for the unification of the country’s past party, socioeconomic, gender, and racial lines, there seems to be a sentiment to focus on what is important. Even if that requires us to see ourselves as individuals actively participating in this system, returning to the more elementary things.
