We overwhelmingly voted for the unfulfilled dream of democracy. I guess we are mostly alone in this commitment.
Part of me thinks I only have myself to blame for being even nervously optimistic about Kamala Harris’s chances in this election. i to know this country – and the racism and misogyny inherent in its founding that stretches back to the present day – and I know well how it has fought back time and time again, often violently, against multiracial democracy.
And so I really had no legitimate reason to think that America would elect a woman president, much less a black and South Asian one. Maybe I loved this country so much that I believed it could try to be better. That’s on me, I guess.
I was never naive enough to think that white women, an almost consistent Republican bloc since 1952, would vote for Harris. In Arizona, Missouri and Nevada, women who voted for Trump were likely to contribute to the victory of abortion rights initiatives while helping to carry over Harris’ loss — a branding move by a group that collectively overstepped black women. since the suffragist era. Trump also made inroads with many groups of color. Are there any “legitimate” reasons for this? Well, registered voters who were blindly screened for policy proposals without knowing which candidate endorsed them overwhelmingly favored Harris’ position, including outspoken Trump supporters. Her policies on crime, foreign policy, and the economy were more popular than Trump’s, while her immigration policies were just as popular but less polarizing. The details of Harris’ program were apparently unknown to most voters (in particular, in the aforementioned blind survey, respondents often falsely attributed her policies to Trump). But even the lowest-informed voters knew that Trump had no policy proposals at all, except for mass deportations and tariffs.
Perhaps they did not believe that Trump would carry out the horrors that he promised, raising doubts about convicted rapist (as the judge who oversaw the trial described the sentence) and a criminal, taking the worst place of a prosecutor and a career civil servant. Please convince me that race and gender do not define those assumptions. We know that at least 77 million people voted for Trump, giving him the popular vote. This means that those of us who voted for Harris were betrayed not by an archaic, undemocratic Electoral College, but by our neighbors, our colleagues, and the strangers we meet on the street.
This should have been great news for the MAGA movement, which is obsessed with what will happen when white Americans cease to be the majority of the population. Apparently, to vote for our own marginalization, many of us need a demagogue to promise better prices for eggs.
I understand that there are those who are voting for Trump, either explicitly or by third-party default, in protest of the Biden administration’s policies toward Israel and Gaza. That’s different from voting for Trump to lower food prices. But I fear he will help bring even more devastation to Gaza than we have seen. After all, Trump invoked his vision of turning the leveled Gaza into a waterfront for the rich; used “Palestinian” as a slur against his opponent; and instituted the Muslim ban in all but name during his first term. Despite his repeated (but politically empty) promises to bring peace, he remains a well-known pathological liar. In any case, I don’t think most Trump voters are among those who object. On the contrary, I suspect that most—including those from historically marginalized groups—believe that aligning with, rather than resisting, power is safe: if you join a formal section of MAGA, you can avoid being in her sight. But most blacks admit that such a prospect is preposterous. Accordingly, there is one demographic that still isn’t buying Trump’s bullshit: black women, who voted for Harris by more than 90 percent. This is not because they are a monolith. It’s just that with so much on their mind, they saw the need to be both principled and pragmatic.
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It’s hard to feel anything less than betrayed and hopeless right now. As always, black women have demonstrated an unwavering, unrequited love for this country and an unsurpassed belief in the politics of solidarity. They didn’t approach the bully, hoping that they would be spared if he turned on everyone else. They did not confuse his flamboyant wealth with the promise of general prosperity. Instead, they cast their votes for the unfulfilled dream of democracy — for the belief that, given time and struggle, we can work toward something that serves and protects us all. Guess we are for the most part alone in this belief. (Though shout out to black male voters, nearly 80 percent of whom voted for Harris.)
It was not just an election, it was a revelation. It showed how many of us are willing to not only stand idly by, but actively vote to harm others for the sake of inventing. In the worst moments since the election, I’ve caught myself fleetingly hoping that Trump supporters feel no less than what they voted for. But that’s not my politics or who I really am. Probably just tiredness talking.
In recent weeks, Trump supporters have celebrated characteristic displays of racist and sexist intimidation and harassment. White nationalist Nick Fuentes has coined the right’s new misogynistic sneer: “Your body, my choice.” In at least 30 states, black students received anonymous messages telling them they had been “selected to pick cotton on the nearest plantation.” Fascists shouted “Heil Hitler and Heil Trump” outside a public theater production Diary of Anne Frank in rural Michigan; on the streets of Columbus, Ohio, neo-Nazis waved swastikas and shouted racial slurs.
If Trump returns to power, some of these threats will turn into successful incitements to violence. But the most indirect damage will be done by his legislative and political agenda. Many people who could always be counted on have become exhausted. They are focused on taking care of themselves. You can’t blame them for adopting the most American ethos of selfishness. I hope this is temporary.
