Trump gave us a lot of warning that this is the exact kind of president he would be, and Republicans elevated him to the highest office anyway. Many liked what they saw when he got there. For me, what was always worse than the president’s words was the gleefulness erupting from the audiences behind him. It’s still sickening to watch Trump’s audience indulge in his performative cruelty. Laughing at bad impersonations of muscular dystrophy, or chanting “send her back” at an elected representative who came to America as a child refugee. Many of these people have been enjoying themselves…
It certainly doesn’t seem like Biden is talking to Trump’s supporters. Are they ready to be “united” with us, should their candidate lose? Never mind the fact a sizeable portion of them are committed to contesting the results even if that happens. For the last four years, many have developed a taste for punishing people, reclaiming an imaginary lost mantle atop American society. They have shown little sign of repentance. Trump’s shamelessness has removed any veneer of shared interests between the two dominating parties in America, between people who have accepted his vision for America, such as it is, and those who have rejected it. It’s not just the Trump base Biden needs to win over, but its victims.
How much longer will we Black and brown people be expected to be the ones to accept the past and move on? This administration’s policies were designed to exclude and even kill us—let’s not forget who this pandemic has affected most—and Republicans voters have punished us by voting for the candidate that promised to make life worse for us. He succeeded. Now what?
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