Unity in the transition of power
By: Nate Sikora — Staff Writer
The aftermath of the presidential election is nothing short of disappointing and frightening. We are transitioning from the first African American president to a president endorsed by the KKK. As with any conclusion to a presidential election, the country feels more divided than ever – social media surely provided evidence of that. Much of the division is warranted, for the president-elect ran his entire campaign on dividing the American electorate and creating conflict. The ironic thing is that the supporters of the President-elect are advocating for national unity when their entire message was division.
The acts of Trump supporters and sympathizers could not be more ironic and oblivious to their own previous behavior. Unity is not granted or entitled, it is earned. How can one ask for unity when the new leader of the free world, of which these individuals supported, outwardly advocates for discrimination against gays, Mexicans, women, and Muslims? Then these same supporters have the audacity to ask these people to unite under this President. Sorry, but no.
The threat looms of repealing healthcare for 20 million Americans, the neglecting of climate change, attacking the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, restricting women’s health care decisions, and possibly deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. The list of possible Republican big government cracking down on equality and opportunity is endless. These are irrefutable campaign promises of the President-elect, and people are trying to repudiate the fears of people who are in the crosshairs of Trump and Pence? Anyone who asserts that people need to “calm down” are proving their luxury of obliviousness because, regardless of Trump’s behavior, they won’t be the victim.
Maybe the overwhelming backlash of electing a far-right 21st century fascist might be caused by the lessons learned from the German election of 1933? Maybe only 59 million of us have learned. But seriously, hear me out on this. You may argue that the President has checks and balances, but Trump now owns all three branches of government. Also, it is possible that Trump will fill his administration with Rudy Giuliani as the director of the FBI, Chris Christie as the Attorney General, and Newt Gingrich as the Secretary of State. Yikes… if anything, whatever a candidate promises to do, you ought to take his or her word for it.
A candidate that originally ran on oppressing certain minority groups cannot legitimately then ask for them to unite under his presidency. In fact, I do not think Trump wants to unite the people he slandered; he wants them to submit. And submit, they will not. I mean, seriously, what is the logic in advocating for national unity under a foundational ideology of white supremacy and heterosexism? As with everything about Trump, no logic exists with that.
Yes, we must respect the constitutional process in the peaceful transition of power from one president to the next, but people will not submit their political movements and ideology to the person who believes in none of them. The country elected the most divisive person in America. I do not know about you, but unity is a pipe dream. Maybe if Trump had been respectful, legitimate, substantive, and non-egotistical, unity could have been a possibility. But I am afraid to say that that was not the case, and probably never will be.