After the Election, a Time to Heal
By AbrarQuader, JD
Chicago, IL
To those of us who were hoping for a different outcome to the 2016 Presidential election, let’s be honest, this one hurts in a way that’s quite different from a typical campaign. It’s not just that our candidate lost, or that the values we fought for didn’t win. This one cuts much more deeply than that. These wounds will take more time to heal, because of the type of injuries sustained.
One of the main elements that characterized this election was the fact that for more than a year and a half, the most vulnerable and powerless people in our society, people who have been under some form of pain or struggle or hardship for most of their lives, were subjected to sustained and intentionally targeted political attacks, being repeatedly torn down, in a manner specifically calculated to score political points.
This election ceased being about republicans and democrats a long time ago. It was personal. To anyone who either wears a hijab or has a sister or mother or daughter or friend that wears a hijab, it was personal. To anyone with a disability or who has a loved one with a disability, it was personal. To anyone who is Latino or African American, it was personal. To anyone with a child being bullied at school, it was personal. To any woman who has ever been assaulted, or was ever afraid of being assaulted, or who was ever humiliated, or made to feel less than, this was personal. We need to acknowledge the personal cost of this election as a country, and as communities. We simply can’t just get up and move on from that type of sustained trauma. We will move on, but it will take time. The pain is made all the worse by the fact that half of our fellow Americans are in gleeful celebration, with no acknowledgement of the damage that has been done to the other half. Healing is going to take hard work, and will require both sides to start really looking at one another as fellow Americans, with empathy. That won’t happen on its own, we will have to do it over time, and it will require much more time and effort to lift people up than it took in tearing people down.
While we begin to heal from the damage caused to our country in this election, we must not give in to fear or disappointment or despair, if only for the sake of the children in our communities. In time, as part of the healing process, we will re-commit to civic engagement, inspired by compassion and justice. As someone who worked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign and is still coming to grips with our new reality, I know that Muslim American children are asking their parents today if they will have to leave the only country they’ve ever known, others are fearful of being targets of bullying at their schools. Immigrant families are afraid of being torn apart. We owe it to everyone in our communities, even if we ourselves are feeling disheartened, shocked, and uncertain, not to give in to despair or fear. We can be true to our feelings, even anger and disappointment, while at the same time not letting those feelings defeat us.
Parents raising children in this politically toxic climate have numerous difficult challenges now. Our children are watching how we react, and the example we show them now is an important life lesson, as they imprint our words and attitudes in their young impressionable minds. I served as Hillary for America’s Illinois Muslim American Outreach Director, and I have had the honor of speaking with numerous congregations. Many people, including Muslim Americans, have expressed to me their fear of a Trump presidency.
As people of faith we are called to reject fear and not give it space in our hearts, but that is often much easier said than done. All the great spiritual wisdom traditions of the world and throughout history essentially teach the same thing, that humanity reaches its highest ideals when we shatter fear, have faith in one another, and are guided by the better angels of our nature. Whatever spiritual truth you believe in, believe this, that ultimately love does trump hate, always, and the arc of the moral universe does bend toward justice.
To those Muslim Americans who are disheartened, believing that the millions of Americans who voted for Trump were voting to also make a statement that Muslims and immigrants are not welcome in this country, I remind you that more Americans (over 59.16 million) have stood in solidarity, affirming that we are stronger together. The millions of people who did vote for Trump, voted for him for various reasons. Most of these voters have probably never gotten to know a Muslim. That is not to say that there isn’t a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and spike in violent hate crimes across the United States, this too is a sad reality we would be naive to ignore, and one that is directly related to the fear-mongering rhetoric that characterized this election. But the majority of Trump voters are good people at heart, just like you and me. The vast majority are not racists, bigots, extremists. Like you and me they are patriotic Americans, and hard working families who are sincere in their frustrations and hopes. We share more in common than what divides us. In the realization of this truth there is much possibility for healing our country.
Each and every one of us, in our own time and in our own way, can take a first step towards that process of national healing. It could be an opportunity to be kind, or taking time to listen rather than be heard, deciding to be without fear, maybe trying to inspire our own lives and those of someone we encounter with some degree of selfless love, or looking for ways to be a strength for those who need an extra hand, lifting one another up.
Unity does not mean uniformity, and we will not cease to stand up for the principles we have fought so hard for throughout this campaign, but we will do so from a place of compassion and justice, solidarity and understanding, not fear and hatred.
For over a year, through social media, our nation has been subjected to reliving the repeated insults, denigrating of women, mockery of the differently abled, scapegoating Muslims and Mexicans and fear mongering. Yes, the prospect of four more years of this is in fact painful and shocking to many, as is the new reality of political leverage in Congress and a future Administration to implement some of the most divisive policies proposed thus far. We always knew that once the campaign ended on November 8, the real work would begin. That has not changed. The work has only increased. Be proud of all we accomplished together this year. Muslim Americans, Latinos and others entered the political process in record numbers. We organized coalitions, uniting diverse groups, mobilized so many people to volunteer and vote for the very first time. To those of you who participated, I say thank you, it has been an honor to work with you. The thousands of phone calls you made, doors that you knocked on, yard signs you put up, donations big and small, it all mattered. You absolutely made a difference. You helped write another new and positive chapter in the Muslim American narrative. That level of civic engagement was historic, and we should be proud of it and appreciate what we accomplished and achieved together, and continue building that momentum across our great country. There is much unfinished work to do, whether its healthcare, women rights, gun violence prevention, immigration, the environment, interfaith work, voter registration, stopping extremist hate in all its forms, or simply bringing back civility and thoughtfulness into the public discourse, we cannot stop now.
One campaign has ended. Another is beginning. As Hillary said in her concession speech, “Never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.” And so we will, because fighting for what’s right is the right thing to do. At moments like these, the eternal wisdom of our faith traditions can serve to bring people together and strengthen community, providing a sense of clarity to our path and purpose. I believe all religions share these basic truths. We are all taught the virtues of seeking the middle way and balance, to stand up for the weak, to pray for wisdom, to treat your neighbor as you would want to be treated yourself, to have the courage to speak truth to power, to take time to meditate, to serve others, to stand in another’s shoes, to be inclusive, to be kind, and to heal. These virtues are shared by all Americans, regardless of faith, even by those among us who don’t profess any particular faith at all.
Americans, all of us, regardless of party affiliation, religion, ethnic background, or anything else, are basically good and decent people, sharing the same hopes and dreams. Ultimately, there can be more that unites us than divides us, if we work at it. We are still living in the greatest country in the world. As we move into the post-election, healing and Thanksgiving season, we certainly have this to be thankful for. - abrarquaderlaw@gmail.com
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