“… and I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away.”
It’s just a couple of days after election day, and after one of the most toxic, visceral, and divisive American presidential election seasons in most people’s lifetimes (or so I’m told), Donald Trump is President Elect. A lot of people I know across the political spectrum are trying to find how to recover from a time of such polarized negativity. For what it’s worth, here are my thoughts on the race, post-mortem:
Was the Republican candidate, Mr. Trump, the embodiment of many of the unacceptable, hateful, and harmful social behaviors I condemn regularly as a public educator? Absolutely.
Was the Democratic candidate, Secretary Clinton, far too tainted by scandal, arrogance, and implications of corruption to warrant the good will necessary for a viable campaign? Absolutely.
Regardless of personal political preferences in this election cycle, this presidential race has been downright depressing. And now that it’s over, we’re still left with first of the two unappealing options above.
On November 9th, this was how I started the English class with my freshman and sophomores:
a. What is good sportsmanship? Why is it a value that is important to society?
b. What is something that brings you hope and joy?
It was as much for the kids as it was for myself. For the complaining we do about them, teenagers can be pretty insightful. Their answers were heartening:
“Being a good sport is caring more about your team than yourself.”
“Don’t brag or be a jerk when you win.”
"Good sportsmanship is everybody giving each other high fives at the end of the game."
“Don’t feel bad or complain when you lose. Feel good that you did your best.”
“People don’t want to play with you again if you’re not a good sport.”
“It’s about respect for yourself, for the other team, and respect for the game.”
Obviously we weren’t just talking about sports. We talked about how, no matter what our political views are, what matters is that we keep playing. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, but it's important to continue to engage in the political process and be a good sport about it.
I also told them one of my happy thoughts is that they probably have strong feelings about politics after this, and that’s a good thing. I’m excited that there are so many young people who, as a result of this negative political climate, will be more engaged in politics. That’s what makes for a healthy democracy.
We shared some happy thoughts, and then we got on with our work for the day. Then I went home and didn’t have to be the grown up, and I still don't feel great about things. I guess there’s an inevitable aftershock from this election. People have to figure out how to be normal again.
On a more personal note:
I’ve always felt good about being able to respect politicians with whom I disagreed because I believed that they were honestly doing what they felt was best for their country and community. While I can not respect Donald Trump, it is not for his supposed views on policy. I will always feel that his unfiltered messages of hate and refusal to participate civilly in discussion are hurtful to democracy and fundamentally wrong. I hate that a lot of people feel less safe in American than they did before.
However, I also believe that a majority of people agree with me that Tump's flaunting of social codes and propriety is wrong. It was a weird situation, and while it doesn’t excuse Trump, I still think that most Republicans are reasonable people and do not think hate speech, bullying, or sexual assault are okay. A large number of Republicans I know are reeling from the frustration of having this man as the highest ranking politician representing the party.
I feel like this is applicable to a lot of people in this country right now for different reasons:
Life goes on. And we’ll keep moving forward because the alternative is to be stuck in this really unpleasant place, and nobody wants that.
I processs things with words and needed to get this out of my system, so thanks for reading if you did.
Coming up next, things that have nothing to do with politics.
Much Love,
Alison
No comments:
Post a Comment