My America didn’t show up yesterday

By Lena Potts

Yesterday I took video of small children watching election coverage and cheering for Hillary Clinton. They weren’t prompted to do this; they crowded around the TV on their own as soon as I turned it on and were enraptured by every update. I hardly remember anything political from when I was 8, but here they all were sincerely engaged. It’s because they were scared. Because this was about them. My low-income youth of color cared for their futures, even at 8 years old. I’m scared and saddened to face them today.

I have read so much that this election shows how divided our nation is. But the division I see now is not ideological. It is human. I am not, nor have I ever been, Hillary Clinton’s biggest fan, and that’s true of a lot of Clinton voters. There was not, obviously, a huge base rallied around Hillary Clinton’s policies, ideas, or ability. But, there should have been a huge population ready to compromise their ideal vision of a presidency in order to ensure the safety of others. If they couldn’t rally around her, people could have come together against Muslim bashing and homophobia, against xenophobia and sexual violence. That is not what happened yesterday. Given the options, most Americans were not going to see their political ideals represented in office during this election. But, we could’ve seen a moral victory.

We had the opportunity to tell this country and the world that we do not support or encourage hatred. And, instead, I learned that we support, encourage, and literally reward hatred.

I voted, and voted for Clinton, because I believe that helping others, especially those in need, those who are disenfranchised, vulnerable, and marginalized, is 1) an obligation of my privilege, and 2) in everyone’s best interest. I believe that fighting for all of us is best for the world. Those who voted for Trump, or, in some ways worse, liberals who did not vote because they didn’t have it their way, because they didn’t love Hillary Clinton, are complicit in bigotry whether they profess to be behind it or not. They could not see past themselves.

This is what privilege is. It’s preferring a bigot to someone potentially untrustworthy. Someone who didn’t vote just told me that they’re not that worried Trump’s presidency will effect them as personally as everyone thinks. That person made those choices completely and only considering himself. Donald Trump never said he’d do anything bad to him, so he’s not worried about it. He may not be deported or sent back to a war-torn country, so he’s not concerned.

I learned all of this new information about the ethos of my country just now, in a few hours, watching election coverage. I knew what privilege was, I knew how certain states would vote, I knew that there was an America out there who supported this. But I didn’t know that we wouldn’t show up, and to such an amazing degree. I didn’t know that the people who are supposed to fight with me for progress and fairness would be the same people who stayed at home pouting about having two “bad choices”, talking about how fucked we all are “so it doesn’t matter”. It does matter. You thought that and said it through a chuckle because you also thought this couldn’t happen. And it did, and it’s because of you, because of all of us.

My only hope going forward is that we learn this lesson. That we’re ashamed of the apathy and the very real consequences it has, and that, starting today, we refuse to ever let this happen again. I hope that we are emboldened. I hope that my coworkers, my fellow educators, all show up today and that we have more passion than ever before. That we teach kids how important their voices are. That my team makes sure not a single Black or Brown student goes home tonight without knowing that before anything bad happens to them we will fight anyone and everyone. Last night was our time to cry. This morning we get to work.

We will teach them about the world. And teach them empathy. Teach them to not only care about others, but to understand that sometimes you do things in the interest of others. That we are actually stronger together, and that when we protect each other and raise each other up we are helping the world. Make that their responsibility, as it clearly wasn’t ours. Go and teach them teamwork, and to be their brothers keeper, and to love their neighbor, and all of these values of togetherness from so many different religions and cultures and systems that were thrown away last night in favor of awesome selfishness. Show them how disparity works and how key they are in solving it. Empower our young people to build a better world for themselves, and then show up every day and build it with them.