I don’t know about you, but I am fighting some serious latent anxiety these days. I am not accustomed to this feeling and I am giving myself grace to process and move through these feelings. As January 20th looms in the distance, I am trying not to think too far ahead about the incompetence that will soon return to Washington. I am going to try not to get too far ahead of my skis with worry about the incoming president’s promises of brutality to so many communities across the nation.
When the 45th president campaigned last year, he made some outlandish campaign promises ranging from jailing and/or executing those who do or sell drugs, deporting families who have been in the country for years (and in some cases generations), ending trade agreements with our allies, ignoring decades-long environmental protections for protected (and in some cases sacred) land, defunding organizations that provide support for marginalized communities, and so many other Draconian policies that his loyal sycophants have been waiting to employ. The former president laid out all of the ways he wished to roll back civil rights and civil liberties and Americans by and large said, “Sign me up!”
So here we are: the former president will be returning to the White House and will continue to enrich himself and his friends with lucrative contracts and the like. Many of his loyal followers seem to ignore the fact that although number 45 has evaded consequences and prosecution time and time again, those in his orbit never seem to have the same stroke of luck.
A significant number of former administrators who worked with 45 during his first term explicitly talked about his inability to think critically, deeply, or compassionately while in office. And again, with that behavior on full display, Americans by and large said they would rather have a rambling hate-filled white man over a supremely qualified, intelligent, cogent, and thoughtful Black woman.
America continues to show herself time and time again. As we know, history doesn’t always repeat itself but it surely rhymes. We are in for an intense four years, but as always, we must find our people. We must support the organizations doing the work to provide services. We must donate to candidates who care deeply about democracy. We must not allow ourselves to get consumed by the hate-filled rhetoric and the attempts at labelling our neighbors as competitors. We must not succumb to their narrative of scarce resources that must be hoarded from others. We must resist the temptation to tap into the worst aspects of ourselves.
And I must remember that all is in divine order and that we have overcome much worse as a people and a nation.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of book “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream” and is co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.