The Gifts of the Election

As I woke up this morning, the fate of the nation hanging in the hands of millions of mail-in and hand-delivered ballots, I started thinking about the gifts of these times. 

Why is this election so tight? Why would so many people cling to fear? Because make no mistake, that’s what racism is at its core: fear. And people who vote for the current president are voting in complicity with racism. 

To be clear, I am not at all surprised it’s so tight. I’ve been saying that there are a lot of people who don’t want to admit out loud they would vote for him, but for whom at the end of the day, the easy thing to do would be to vote for the current president. Even for those supporters who truly don’t believe they’re racist. (Newsflash: complicity with racism is racism) The easy thing to do at any time is to go with the status quo. Change is hard. It’s scary. 

We had some misses. By “we” I mean those of us who are on the side of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. I don’t mean Democrats. Trump is only the face of the problem with this administration; he’s not even close to the only one. McConnell and Graham were both re-elected. The Senate is still held by Republicans, and the House lost a couple of seats to Republicans. 

From a larger perspective, we still have a two-party system, a system funded by big money, and an electoral college that disadvantages people of color. If this election gives us a President Biden and Vice President Harris, our real work can finally begin. 

So what are some of the gifts? I’m sure there will be more, but these are off the top of my head:

1. Greater engagement with young people and people of color before and during the election. I’m waiting to see the final numbers, but it looks like 2020 will see the highest percentage of voter turnout, driven by young people and people of color.
2. Greater outrage at social injustice from white allies. While #blacklivesmatter isn’t trending the same way it was over the summer, some of us are still profoundly engaged. I’ve gone too far to turn back now, and I hope you have, too. 
3. Less complacency (I hope!). The pundits were predicting a blue tsunami. I hoped for it, but I didn’t believe we’d see it. I thought it’d be really tight, and I thought there was a very real danger that the current president could win re-election. PACs like the Color of Change and individuals like me (and so many of my friends) were driven to volunteer hours and hours of time. Millions of texts were sent in the hours before the election.