When hate Trumps love…

Before you think this is yet another think piece on the Trump victory at the US elections and make a move to turn the page, disclaimer: it is not. Since we went through the six stages of grief in the last 48 hours and read countless articles on the causes, the immediate impact and long-term effects of Donald Trump’s victory and impeding presidency, this will not be yet another piece questioning what is happening but more of an acceptance of the new status quo and a survival manual on how we move on.

While Americans can fool themselves that moving over the border up north to Canada will make any bit of difference, and some oblivious folk in the rest of the world can downplay the ramifications his rise to power on the whole world, let’s face it: unless you are living in a cave in a remote corner of the globe, the fact that America saw Donald Trump will impact on your life in some way.

Firstly, keep the faith that love trumps hate. Sadly, also the defeated Clinton camp’s slogan. While the last few days have proved that may not be the case any more, within your circle of influence keep spreading love – more so tolerance. It is a shame that following the election results and the racist attacks already taking places across the country on ethnic minorities, no movements such as #illridewithyou (to encourage Muslims in Australia who are afraid of an Islamophobic backlash following an Islamic gunman’s attack on a café in Sidney in 2014) but then again this may be a sign of the times in the divided nation.

We may think we live in parts of the world unaffected by such senseless bigotry yet the message coming from the leader of the supposed free word is loud and clear: Hate is okay, so is racism, and sexism, and prejudice. After all this is a president elect endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan, who has boasted about grabbing women by their genitalia and avoiding paying tax, mocked the disabled, threatened the immigrants, the ethnic minorities and the Muslims.

Waking up to the election results in the US, what are our children meant to think? “How do I explain this to my children?” lamented CNN political commentator Van Jones on the morning of the results. In my opinion, that was one of the most humane reactions to this palaver. We teach our children to love and respect others, regardless of race, creed or colour. We tell them not to bully or to lie or cheat. Then overnight in America a bully who has stirred up the masses’ basest fears rises to power.

The only way we can continue to show our children love trumps hate is to lead by example. Don’t let them be tainted by Trump’s vitriolic words – whether he changes tack once he is at 1600 is another matter, his simplistic arguments and despicable tirades are now carved in the annals of history.

Likewise, spread gender equality. Hillary Clinton may have lost and the US may not see another candidate run to be the first female president of the country, to be defeated instead by a man who has little respect for women. Therefore, take heart in the fact that America is not the pinnacle of enlightenment and there are other places we can look for shining beacons of hope where women lead, and they are respected as political, intellectual and professional equals.

Remind your daughters of such women, remind them too breastfeeding their baby is not disgusting, having an opinion does not make them despicable, and no man is ever allowed to call them a “nasty woman”. Remind your sons that grabbing a woman by any part of her body is unacceptable, neither is referring to them as a “piece of ass”, rating them based on their looks, humiliating them publicly for what their bodies are made for: breastfeeding and menstruating) and bullying them out of offices of influence with the old age thinking that they belong in the kitchen.

Finally, keep vocal. In a world post-Brexit, post-Trump win, where our leaders are talking less of building bridges, and more of building walls (Incidentally the post-election day in the US also marked the 27th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall), less of globalisation and more of isolation, we are fortunate that we have social media. Keep posting, keep sharing, keep voicing the truth the majority of us still hold to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America may have forgotten, don’t let the world forget.