A New Path Forward

Let’s take stock.

Tuesday night was unexpected. It was unprecedented. And now, just two days after one of the most historically important elections ever, we must deal with its consequences.

I could write with the intention of destroying Donald Trump. I could investigate the roots of his shocking victory. I could attack him for his plethora of crimes—for his manipulation of the white working class, his undemocratic rhetoric or his systematic isolation of minorities. But at the end of the day, what would that achieve?

Our focus must now pivot to moving forward, to acceptance.

Instead I wish only to convey one, overwhelmingly important idea—one, simple truth.

Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States of America.

Whether he is sexist, a racist or a bigot is no longer important. That was a determination we had to make in the days, months and years leading up to Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, and not in the days after.

Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States of America.

That is fact. We must accept this. And we must come to terms with it; for that recognition is the only way forward.

America has voted. Our representative democracy has fairly elected Trump, and that is simply not debatable. We have, in accordance with every American ideal, elected the president that the “majority” of Americans wanted (sure, Clinton won the popular vote, but that’s not how our system works; if we want to change our system, that’s another problem for another day).

But Trump won this election; he won the presidency. Our focus must now pivot to moving forward, to acceptance.

Lingering a moment longer on whether we agree with America’s decision will only deepen the already cavernous rift between us all. We are a country, and a country that must remain a united front in the coming years of turmoil.

If we accept the division among us, if we fight instead of working with, we only perpetuate the destruction of the already fragile fabric of democracy. If we accept the division among us, we tear the threads of unity that have held this country together for 238 years.

America is a resilient country. And yet our darkest hours have come when we refuse to accept the humanity of the minority. Tuesday, the uneducated white population has reclaimed its dominance over minorities. It’s as simple as that.

The appropriate response to a Trump presidency is unclear. But I can assure you that fighting every second of it is worse than letting it run its course. The answer isn’t opposition. It’s unity.

Let’s come together. Let’s not fight this together, let’s embrace this together. A unified country under a tyrannous administration is vastly better than a discordant one under the same, tyrannous administration.

For today though, and just today, let’s sit with Tuesday night’s result.

Let’s recognize that everything that Hillary stood for, everything she represented for feminism and for woman’s rights was overpowered by good-old white, male supremacy.

For now, let’s be sad about it. For now let’s let it sink in; let it consume us.

But when we wake up tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, let’s rise up and fight it—not with violence, not with aggression, but with love, togetherness, and unity.