The past two days I've heard, seen and read a lot of entitled white folks telling people to shut up and accept the results of the election.
That's fine sentiment coming from a position of power. That's fine talk when you are white. As a white male I know full well the power of white privilege in this country. Don't pretend it doesn't exists.
Ever wonder why I've never been stopped by the wal-mart "guard" as I exit the store, when I see them stopping the African-American family or the Hispanic family right before or after me? Or when I've been given a free pass on a traffic violation when my African-American friend gets a ticket BY THE SAME COP for the same violation? Or when a Chick-Fil-A manager gets on to my African-American friend's son in the playground when it was actually a white kid bullying others? I could go on and on. These are events I have seen with my own eyes.
You won, white America. Now, stop talking for a moment. Stop trying to educate. Stop trying to explain yourself for a moment. Stop score boarding. For a moment, just a moment...listen. Be gracious for a moment.
I'm against violence. And I believe in respect. But I also believe people have the right to peacefully express their opinion without being told to quiet down. Peaceful protests enact serious change. Whether or not you liked Hillary, the fact remains a racist demagogue was just elected as President. Whether or not you feel he was the better option, it still doesn't change the fact that he has offended everyone from Muslims to the Handicapped. My sister is handicapped so I sometimes take these things personally.
Try telling the the Hispanic girl in my class who is crying because she's sincerely afraid of being deported because Trump threatened to rescind an executive order that gave her the right to be here, why she is wrong.
Try telling a young girl that the man who said horrible things about enjoying assaulting women, why it was okay to vote for him.
Try telling the Muslim girl, who was elected Homecoming Queen this year at my High School (in Texas no less!), why she shouldn't be afraid of a man who threatened to ban Muslims from the U.S.. By the way, he made that ban statement while she was out of the country for a week to attend her sister's wedding in Pakistan. She would not have been allowed to return to the country or my school if his ban had actually existed.
They can say they voted for economic reasons or pro-life reasons or whatever. They can say they voted because one candidate was corrupt. But the fact remains that when the Ku Klux Klan celebrates the victory of a candidate, we should all be ashamed.
Get out of your white suburb and your white social circle and your white family for a moment. Get out to the real world. Talk to my students who are scared. And tell them again why you voted the way you did.
Don't tell them to quiet down in the white paternalistic tone so prevalent in our culture.
Console them. Perhaps even apologize. You can lecture on social media or in letters to the editor. But look at my students in the eye and explain to them why you voted for Trump.
And you better hope they show greater respect and cooperation Obama was shown the past eight years.
