Now’s The Time To Come Together – Against Donald Trump And His Dangerous Agenda

Instead of Normalizing The President-Elect, We Must Unite And Fight Him

The dust has barely settled and already the talking heads on TV are telling us it’s time to come together and unite as one country, or that we should take a “wait and see” approach once the new adiministration actually takes power. No. 

Donald Trump is the exact same person he was a week ago. His campaign platform and his own words represened the worst of what America has to offer and that didn’t change just because he won the electoral college. He is still a threat to our Republic. 

There are too many people saying, ”It’s time to come together and respect the president, even though we didn’t vote for him.” But for too many people, that means giving in to intimidation and harassment and, quite literally, putting themselves in danger. There is so much work to do before we can put aside our differences and come together.

It is an incredible privilege to know that even if you disagree with the administration, your safety, your civil rights and, yes, even your body, will not be in danger. There’s a very large portion of the country who cannot say the same. Before you tell people to stop protesting or complaining or speaking out, understand what you’re actually asking them to do.

I refuse to normalize Donald Trump’s sexism, racism, xenophobia, bigotry, sexual assault, demagoguery, homophobia and bully tactics. “Putting aside our differences and coming together” means ignoring the reality and the danger of what just happened in our country, and we cannot let that continue.

I’m certainly not saying that we shouldn’t accept the reality of the situaion. As much as it’s terrible Trump won, that’s the way it works. And to be sure, accepting reality is in no way the same as normalizing the danger we face. We have to turn our focus to creating a real political opposition. We have to organize and engage and make ourselves heard both in the streets and in the halls of Congress and legislatures across the country.  

We have to go one step farther, though. Most of us are still afraid and scared for what might happen. We need each other more than ever. It’s time for all of us to realize that our silence won’t protect us. It’s time for all of us to recommit to being the ally we know we can be. It’s not easy to step up and speak out, but if we don’t? I can’t even begin to imagine what might happen.

Take a moment to think of something concrete you can do. Maybe you can get involved politically and influence policy because you have the time and means to go visit your local representatives. Maybe you’ve got a massive social network and you can help organize street protests. Maybe you can step in when you see someone being harassed on the street and help put an end to it. Whatever it may be, we all have something we can do, even if it seems to be something small. Small things add up to big things, after all. 

Tomorrow is coming whether we’re ready for it or not. Donal Trump is going to be president and Mike Pence is going to be vice president. We’re going to have to remind them and the rest of the country that they did not win with a mandate. It was a fluke of politics that enabled them to hold these offices, and we will not let them have a blank check to implement their harmful policies. 

We can keep each other safe over these next four years. I know we can. We don’t really have a choice. It’s time for each of us to engage in some serious reflection and challenge ourselves to rise to the occasion. We’re all depending on each other. We can’t let ourselves down.

Robbie Medwed is an LGBTQ activist, educator, and writer in Atlanta, GA. His column appears here weekly. Follow him on Twitter: @rjmedwed