Well, the day was finally here. And then it passed. After what feels like centuries of campaigning, political pundit reporting, and yelling from both sides of the aisle, the 2020 United States Presidential Election Season has come and gone.
I’ve struggled with beginning this article for the past week or so. I started it the day after the voting season officially closed. Meaning that as I type on my computer, it is currently November 4 at 12:39 PM. I would be remiss in saying that I have not experienced a conundrum of emotions: confusion at the electoral college, frustration in how long it is taking the votes to be counted, and, perhaps most overwhelming, exhaustion. I am exhausted, tired, spent, drained, and weary. I am beyond disheartened to witness another election season crawl by, one in which my rights as a woman, a Black woman at that, are dangled in front of my eyes. There is no form of conditional love and support quite like election season, an incessant pattern that repeats itself every four years.
All things considered, I have not been heavily surprised by people’s reactions to this election. I grew up in the South but in a moderately wealthy portion of it. I have heard the worst of the worst and seen the best of the best. By this point, I’m sure you’re wondering what has pushed me to write this. What could have possibly been so bad that Trinity fixed her thumbs to type out an entire article? In short, the egregious use of social media and the lack of accountability that stems from it.
As November 3 approached, Instagram and Twitter alike flooded with people stating that no matter who won “Jesus was still King”, or that we needed to always be kind to our neighbor, regardless of who they voted for. On the surface, these posts look exactly how they were designed to: a way to unify a heavily fragmented country. Although let me be one of many to tell you, it didn’t work. In fact, these posts only exposed what marginalized communities have been screaming about for years…
The privilege to so effortlessly say that life will continue on in the face of the election is a privileged standpoint that too many Americans cannot enjoy.
The United States is a country that was largely founded under the basis of racism and other forms of bigotry. It should not be controversial to acknowledge that. For one, my ancestors were enslaved. Their work in the fields generated wealth for those who enslaved them and those ramifications are still present to this day. Specifically, as it pertains to the election, minority communities are disproportionately hit with voter suppression whether it be voter ID laws, voter purging, the closing of polling places, or other measures. These practices have been implemented and adapted for centuries with the intention of silencing portions of the community whose preconceived function is to silently serve those above them, whether it be from a class or racial standpoint.
When citizens still support politicians and policies that perpetuate this cyclical process it begs the question…
How can you say you love me, yet use the power you have to hurt me?
At the end of the day, a politician is a human being. Human beings are not immune from operating on the basis of self-interest. They are not beyond lying to the public for personal gain or betraying those who elected them into office. However, at the end of the day, politicians are human beings; human beings will show you who they are and what they want.
Nothing that these candidates have said has shifted from an established ideology, nor has it been surprising in any format. Both of them have stances that are free for the public to research. We know how they view different topics, but more pointedly, how they view different groups.
Every single eligible voter in this country has a choice to make during election season. They determine which candidate they want to see fill the role they have run a campaign towards. Having different opinions is necessary to uphold our democracy and to help it function overall.
However, when all things are considered…
You do not get to shield your hypocrisy under the guise of Christianity.
Let’s discuss the separation of church and state for a minute. In the past four years, religious groups, specifically those based in Christianity and Catholicism, have been emboldened to have their say in how the government is run and the policies within it. This means that policymakers are allowing their faith to dictate how they represent those who elected them, as well as what laws they determine for the rest of the country.
Let me just say, as a Christian woman, this is wrong.
Maintaining the separation of church and state is imperative to upholding a government that works for the benefit of all people. At the end of the day, no matter the religion, beliefs are based in faith. No one knows a definitive answer; we are called by the supreme being of our religion to believe in them in their teachings. Personal decisions should not give us the agency to decide how others need to live their lives. I should not be able to determine how a member of the Muslim or Jewish faiths can or cannot do, any more than I should be able to do so for an atheist or agnostic. If voters want to legitimately argue that they are pushing for the betterment of the country, yet still look to push their own religious agenda, then a definitive statement must be made…
If you are using your religion for the purpose of oppressing another group of people, then you need to reanalyze what your faith is calling you to do.
We need to make something very clear. Jesus was still King when slavery happened. He still sat on the throne during the Holocaust. He watched from the sky during both World Wars. Even still, he has not lost his crown. The same can be said for other religions as well. While we believe that they are always in control, that does not take away free will. After all, people used the Bible to justify slavery and are continuing to use it to diminish the LGBTQ+ community. They are using it to dictate how they interact with racial and religious minorities. The Bible has been invoked in too many decisions designed to condone the oppressive actions by the majority. Now, if there is nothing else to take from this article, just know this…
When someone tells you that you hurt them and/or their community, you do not get to decide that you didn’t.
Like I mentioned before, this election has heavily pulled into perspective where our communities stand on a variety of issues. It has also highlighted what some people view as a dealbreaker and what others do not.
While you may argue that you are not racist, homophobic/transphobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, etc., if your vote is cast in favor of someone who holds those qualities, then you are complacent. You are consciously putting your support behind someone who has the ability to greatly harm these communities, to damage the lives of those who you claim to love.
You simply cannot project your discomfort as the equivalent of persistent trauma.
Before I end this, I want to reiterate that how you vote and what you view as being important is something unique to you. We are all entitled to our own opinions, yet that does not mean that we are not subject to the consequences that may come from expressing these.
Note: I should be honest in stating that I did not write all of this in one sitting. I type this sentence on November 8 at 3:02 PM, meaning that Joe Biden has selected by the nation as the 46th President-elect. A fresh four years means a fresh opportunity for our generation to continue forging pathways for those coming after us. It means that we will push for change and not be content until we reach it. Have hope.