November 8, 2024

Photo credit: Joe Cook

I - like many - have spent the last few days processing. Grieving. Reckoning. Mourning. Realizing.

At first, my mind was almost completely blank from disbelief (and, if I’ll be honest, denial), but one lone thought kept popping up:

“Thank God I don’t have a child.”

… because I don’t know how I would explain this to them.

It has taken me a few days… but now I do know what I would say. I would tell them this:

The majority of America is full of hate. Real hate. Grotesque hate. Raw, unadulterated hate. Hate of biblical proportions (and I mean Old Testament-style hate).

America is sexist. America hates women. America is racist. America hates black people. Brown people. Latinos. Asians. Native Americans (oh, the irony). America hates “other than white and male.” America hates other cultures. Other religions. Muslims. Jews. It goes without saying that America hates gay. Lesbian. Trans. I could go on and on.

The majority of America chooses money. Greed. Guns over children. They’ve shown us that time and time again. They don’t care if a black man can’t breathe. They don’t care if a pregnant woman bleeds out in a parking lot. They hide behind their scriptures and they just… hate.

The root of that hate… is fear. This version of America is afraid to embrace “other.” The sheer thought of the country being led by anything other than what they are used to. They fear change. At the root of it all - is cowardice.

But… change is inevitable. And while we are about to experience terrible change of unprecedented, disgusting proportions… it will, one day, balance back. Because that’s just the nature of all things.

Change starts at home. And change happens in small increments that can cause massive shifts. Small, but meaningful, impacts of change, acceptance, growth… love.

I’m heartbroken. I’m worried. I’m resigned. But I am not helpless. And I refuse to lose hope.

The sun will - God willing - keep rising over the metaphorical remains of our country for years to come. And I will rise too, and stand and fight with the minority of those that chose hope, change, a better future for our children, and most of all, love.

Because THAT is the America to which I belong.