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A 12-Step Program for Responding to President-Elect Trump
Are you traumatized by the election of Donald Trump? Here's the program for you.
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Traumatized by the election results, many Americans are asking: What now? Here are steps that any of us can take that can make a difference at the margins. Onward!
1. I WILL accept that my side lost, but I won’t acquiesce in injustice and I will gird for battle on issues I care about. I will call or write
my member of Congress and express my opposition to mass deportation, to
cutting 22 million people off health insurance, to nominations of
people who are unqualified or bigoted, to reduced access to
contraception and cancer screenings. Better yet, I’ll attend my
representative’s town meeting and put him or her on the spot.
2. I WILL try to do small things in my own life, recognizing that they are inadequate but at least a start: I will sign up
on the Council on American-Islamic Relations website, volunteering to
fight Islamophobia. I’ll call a local mosque to offer support, or join
an interfaith event. I will sign up for an “accompany my neighbor” list if one exists for my area, to be an escort for anyone who is now in fear.
3. I WILL
avoid demonizing people who don’t agree with me about this election,
recognizing that it’s as wrong to stereotype Trump supporters as anybody
else. I will avoid Hitler metaphors, recognizing that they stop
conversations and rarely persuade. I’ll remind myself that no side has a
monopoly on truth and that many Trump supporters are good people who
want the best for the country. The left already has gotten into trouble
for condescending to working-class people, and insulting all Trump
supporters as racists simply magnifies that problem.
Have you changed anything in your daily life since the
election? For example, have you tried to understand opposing points of
view, donated to a group, or contacted your member of Congress? Your
answer may be included in a follow up post.
4. I’LL DO my part to support the society I’d like to see. I’ll eat Chobani
yogurt because its owner has been subjected to racist attacks for his
willingness to hire and promote refugees. Likewise, I will give blood
and register for organ donation — for at least they’ll make me feel better. As will a tub of Chobani.
5. I WILL support groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center that fight hate groups, and back the center’s petition
calling on Donald Trump to disavow bigotry. Depending on my interests,
I’ll support an immigration rights group, the A.C.L.U. or Planned
Parenthood. And I’ll subscribe to a newspaper as one way of resisting
efforts to squelch the news media or preside over a post-fact landscape —
and also to encourage journalists to be watchdogs, not lap dogs.
6. I WILL
support refugees, one of the most demonized groups in the world. The
International Rescue Committee’s work for refugees can for the first
time be supported
through donations to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. In many
cities in America and abroad, volunteer can help refugees through this I.R.C. portal. More refugee resettlement agencies are here.
7. I WON’T
let it slide if a friend makes degrading comments about a minority or
women. Even if it’s over Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll push back and say
something like: “Come on! You really think that?!” Similarly, I may not
be able to prevent a sexual predator from reaching the White House, but
at events I attend, I may be able to prevent a sexual predator from
assaulting a drunken partygoer.
8. I WILL
resist dwelling in an echo chamber. I will follow smart people on
Twitter or Facebook with whom I disagree. I will also try to enlarge my
social circle to include people with different views, recognizing that
diversity is a wonderful thing — and that if I know only Clinton
supporters, then I don’t have a clue about America.
9. I WILL
do what I can in my own life to make sure that the needy aren’t
forgotten in the next four years amid paroxysms of tax cuts for the
wealthy. I can support Reach Out and Read,
an outstanding program that helps at-risk kids learn to read: A $20
donation covers one child for a year, or one can serve as a reader. Or I
can be a Big Brother or Big Sister or help through iMentor.
10. I WILL
understand that progress may unfold at the state or local level, and I
will engage there. It’s encouraging that voters in four states passed
minimum wage measures, and in three states approved gun safety measures,
while other states and localities are wrestling with climate change.
And, of course, a starting point is to get my friends to vote.
11. I WILL take on sexism and misogyny, which in forms like domestic violence,
sexual assault and sex trafficking affect women and girls across the
country. Even today, Republicans and Democrats should be able to work
together to get funding for women’s shelters or to prosecute pimps.
12. I WILL
not lose hope. I will keep reminding myself that politics zigs and
zags, and that I can do more than shout in the wind. I can fight for my
values even between elections, and even at the micro level I can
mitigate the damage to my neighbors and attempt to heal a social fabric
that has been rent.
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