The 2020 Presidential election process was a stressful, never-ending story that included upset white people who feel the country’s been divided since 2016, Black people who’ve felt that same divide since 1619, and random celebrity endorsements that helped nobody. Now that the certified results are final (despite Donald Trump being a sore, grown-baby loser), is it possible to unify with people who voted differently and turn the other cheek despite various heated digital debates?
An estimated 70 million people voted to reelect Donald Trump despite 237,000 (and counting) people dying from the coronavirus on his watch . That estimate includes 55% of white women (an increase from 2016) who turned a selectively-blind feminist eye to Trump’s sexual misconduct allegations, made by more than 26 women since the 1970s. These same supporters organized a low-count rally weekend in Washington, DC, to declare, despite no legal evidence, that Trump was cheated out of the election—their respective groups of mask-less faces yelling in dissent as their leader drove past them in his limousine to play golf. One branch of Trump supporters wear their choice loud and proud in their Facebook photos toting their Walmart rifles. The other walks in silence, denying their vote is associated with racism because they’ve worked with a handful of Black people—some of whom even voted for Trump.
While 90% of Black women voted for the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris ticket, continuing their legacy of saving the democratic party, 18% of Black men voted for Trump. This support was lead by Black male celebrities such as Lil Wayne, Hershel Walker, Kanye West, and Polo Da Don. These Black men collectively ignored the president’s message of “Stand by, stand down” to the Proud Boys hate organization. They forgot his referencing participants in a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as “Very fine people on both sides.”
These same Black men criticized—and rightfully so—the 1994 crime bill issued by then-Senator Joe Biden (which was supported by multiple Black politicians and community leaders), but they suffered memory loss when it came to Trump publicly calling for the Central Park Five’s execution. Unfortunately, none or few of these so-called ‘woke alternative’ Black minds felt the need to help Stacey Abrams turn Georgia blue nor stand with Tamika Mallory as she has sought justice for the murder of Breonna Taylor. And yet, after the outcome, folks are not only supposed to forgive these willfully ignorant choices but embrace those who chose differently and make them feel at home again.
This act of forgiveness is as American as mayonnaise—a tasteless form of servitude forced upon its victims. This country’s pattern of always asking the oppressed to be the bigger person is tiresome and unrealistic. White people who consistently block Black people’s equal rights and empowerment have done nothing to earn forgiveness. The same goes for the Black man who separates his support from the Black woman by voting against the community’s betterment because of his own gender benefits within the same oppressive system.
There is a difference between showing a level of grace to individuals or groups who have reasonable disagreements about how to achieve a better world and showing allegiance to a person/system who is specifically out to harm a particular person or group. You made your choice, so stay over there.
