Rhetoric after the election

To the Campus Community,

Like many of you, the results of the presidential election took me by surprise. And yet here we are: Donald Trump is the President-Elect of the United States. Where do we go from here? As young people engaged in politics, the College Democrats and myself have been deeply troubled with the amount of hateful rhetoric that we have heard over the course of this election. In particular, the amount of hateful actions that have taken place against vulnerable communities since Election Day has highlighted some of the ugliest tendencies of our nation.

As such, there has never been a more important time to be an ally. This goes far beyond simply wearing safety pins and making Facebook statuses: let us challenge ourselves to make it a personal responsibility to be civically engaged and stand up for what is right, because the most dangerous thing that people of privilege can be is complacent.

At the same time, more than 60 million Americans voted for Donald Trump, and it is important that we seek to understand why. It will get us nowhere (and certainly no closer to the White House) to simply denounce Trump supporters as a monolithic bloc of ignorance and hatred. This is far from the truth, and we cannot ignore the fact that many members of our Muhlenberg community voted for Donald Trump. As a campus based on community and respect, the College Democrats wholeheartedly disapprove of any personal attacks on Trump supporters on campus. I do believe that, while by and large students are quite vocal on campus when it comes to social issues, our capacity to engage in political dialogue can and must be improved. We must become comfortable being uncomfortable and having difficult conversations with our peers – progress cannot happen when you can’t reach across the aisle.

For those of you who feel compelled to do something, I encourage you to be specific in your organization. Which elected officials should you write letters to, and about what? Voicing your opinion is great, but if you want to see meaningful change come of it, make sure you are targeting people in power who can actually have an impact, particularly on the state and local levels.

While it may feel frustrating and overwhelming, what we do matters. I cannot stress enough the importance of turning this sadness and anger into energy and action. The College Democrats fully intend to continue to organize, engage, act locally, and stand up for what we feel is right. We hope you will join us.

Megan Lafayette is the president of the Muhlenberg College Democrats