On the Aftermath of the 2016 Election
How do we, as victims, move on from this election?
I know calling a group of people “victims” has a negative connotation to it. It is said that by calling someone a victim we’re making it seem like they are powerless or weak. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a victim can be defined as “ one that is subjected to oppression, hardship, or mistreatment”, and that is what is happening to many people after the last election. The poor, women, people of color, the disabled, immigrants and the LGBT community. The administration and states are already starting to pass laws that will hurt these groups. Trump’s proposed budget will hurt the poor and add more burdens to their already heavy load. It plans on cutting funding on after school programs for low income kids, lowering funding for rental assistance, and removing the grants that help nonprofit organizations give the poor free legal aid. Texas and other states are pushing to pass bathroom bills that would prevent trans people from using the bathroom for the gender they identify with. These are just a few of the measures of the new administration that will cause a great amount of harm to disadvantaged groups.
How do we as victims of this election and administration move on? How do we deal with living in the same nation and neighborhoods with people who voted Donald Trump into the presidency? These are all questions we have to confront soon. A great amount of people voted for Trump or did not vote at all, allowing for this situation to happen. Some of these people aren’t even strangers, they are family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. There is a clear division between those who voted for him and those who did not. White people, both men and women, overwhelmingly voted for Trump. We have to think about how we live with the pain and fear they caused. We have to think about forgiveness and if they deserve it. If they do deserve forgiveness, how do we go about it? Claudia Card’s essay, The Moral Power Of Victims, can be used to think through these questions. In this essay, Card discusses guilt, punishment, and forgiveness.
We cannot personally punish those who caused us this harm. In her essay, Card states that evils that are criminal cannot be punished. Evils that are part of our political system and law enforcement cannot be punished either. We cannot punish those who voted for Trump, they did not do anything illegal. They voted for the candidate who supported their beliefs; they put their beliefs over the lives of others. It was a selfish decision but not a decision that can be punished by the law. It will be very hard to punish politicians that are creating the oppressive laws; the system will not allow us. Trump’s travel ban has been found unconstitutional twice, and while the bill has been blocked there has been no sanctions for those who created it. What we can do is make sure these people have the remainders of the evil they have done. Remainders are feelings of guilt, shame, remorse and regret. They are the weight someone feels when they need to correct something. Those who voted for Trump are already feeling this; many are already regretting their decision to vote for him. So while we cannot punish those who have caused this injustice, we can make sure they are reminded about the pain they have caused.
The question of if we should forgive those who voted for Trump or not is a complicated one. First, we have to look at the characteristics of forgiveness to see if forgiveness in this situation is even possible. Claudia Card says there are five characteristics that forgiveness needs to have. First, the feelings of hostility need to stop. Second, there needs to be concern and compassion for the offender. Third, the forgiver needs to accept the offender’s apology and remorse. Fourth, if there was punishment present, it needs to be stopped. Fifth, the forgiver must offer the offender the option to renew their relationship. To be able to forgive those who allowed Trump to be president they need to apologize first. While some voters are regretting their decision, there has been no grand scale apology from them and there will probably not be one. It will also be hard for those who have been hurt by this election to be able to feel compassion for those who voted for Trump or did not vote at all because they feel like those voters come from a place of privilege. Forgiveness seems unlikely, at least on a grand scale.
Card offers another option. She says instead of conventional forgiveness victims can choose to let go. Letting go involves giving up the hostility and negative feelings and instead using that energy for better causes. It offers nothing to the offender, it is purely for the victims benefit. This leaves the possibility of reparations open and does not erase the responsibility of the offender for their actions. This is our best option to move on from the election results because while the anger and blame is justified, there is a lot to be done.
Instead of punishing or forgiving those who voted for Trump and his administration, we should let go and focus on stopping them from passing any new detrimental legislature. We’ve already have made progress, just recently we were able to stop Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act, saving thousands of lives. We can let go of these negative emotions regarding the election and still hold those who hurt us accountable.
