Thanksgiving, Post-Election: Republicans, Don’t Let Trump Go Too Far

I am spending this Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family in Ohio. They all voted for Donald Trump. Prior to the election, they spoke with distaste about Trump–about his hate-laden speech and his misogynist words. I know that even though their vote in effect legitimized his bigotry, they do not stand behind it. That gives me hope, and I feel it is my duty to petition their support on the issues that we all stand behind. Here’s what I drafted.

Dear All,

It was 4 a.m. when I woke up on the day after the election. I was distraught, and sad, and angry. I cried. I took a Xanax. I couldn’t go back to sleep. I lay awake thinking about the people who elected Trump, including you all. I envisioned myself yelling at you at the Thanksgiving table. Instead, I opened my laptop and started writing.

I vote Democratic because I am largely a social issues voter. I want my gay friends to have the right to marry their partners. I want all women to have the right to bodily autonomy. And I want our borders to remain open to Mexicans and to Muslims because I know they are not all rapists, or criminals, or terrorists.

From my understanding, you voted for Trump because of his economic policy and his political outsider-ness. And I get it. You yourself, or someone you know, grew up in a state that was booming, where factory workers could give their families a nice middle-class life in a nice middle-class suburb with a nice middle-class home. And I agree that the system needs a re-boot; that the establishment is not working for most of us in this country. I went to an anti-Trump rally yesterday, and people chanted that the system needs a revolution. I imagine you’d agree.

But you also have to understand that by voting for Trump, you effectively legitimized his hateful, bigoted speech. His election gave license to students in Michigan to chant “build the wall,” leaving their Hispanic classmates in tears. My friend, a school social worker, told me that children are asking him if slavery is coming back. You may dismiss his words as meaningless, but their implications are felt by many.

When I heard the news that Trump won, I was scared because as a woman, I do not want to be forced to carry a mistimed pregnancy to term. I was scared because, as a daughter of immigrants, my heart went out to all the immigrants who have built their lives here, who are part and parcel of our communities, and who are right now hearing the resounding message that they are not welcome. But I am also hopeful, because I know that you are loving and you are understanding. That you don’t believe abortion should be illegal, that we should close our borders, or that gay people shouldn’t have the same rights you and I enjoy. You know better than to believe all Muslims are terrorists and all Mexicans are criminals.

So I am asking you to show me, and the world, that you may have voted for Trump, but you do not stand for everything he has articulated. I am asking you to stand with me to shape this into a presidency that reflects our nuanced views. I am asking you to please parse apart the Trump that you elected to regale the establishment and rebuild your communities from the Trump that has said some truly terrifying and dangerous things. I am asking you to pledge your support if his hateful speech becomes hateful action. My voice, as a liberal Democrat from New York City, will not resound among Republicans like yours will. Please help amplify my voice. This was not a traditional election and we should not be a traditional constituency.

With love,
Stephanie

Stephanie Küng is a second-year MPH candidate in Population and Family Health. Prior to coming to Columbia, she worked for many years in sexual and reproductive rights, education, and community organizing and counseling.

If you would like to contribute to Mailman Student Voices, please send a three to five-sentence pitch outlining your topic to mailmancomm@columbia.edu.