I had a dream.
On election night, a bright blue map would emanate from my flat screen TV. We’d be elated by news of Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. From sea to shining sea, the results would repudiate Trump, his hate-filled campaign, and drive a stake in the heart of the Southern strategy of using race to leverage working class white votes.
We know how that turned out. On Wednesday, I could barely bring myself to work. Heart heavy, I felt as if I’d experienced a death.
What’s bugging me now is the attempt to negate the implications of Trump’s bigotry for the outcome. For example, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof says we shouldn’t label Trump supporters as racists: “many are good people who had voted for Obama in the past.” Maybe they’re not, but they supported a racist, sexist xenophobe.