So two weeks have passed now, and many are still upset, surprised or ecstatic that Donald Trump has been elected the future president of the U.S. Regardless of your position, some facts need to be addressed that are eluding the discourse in this post-election environment. This is not a liberal attack on all conservatives — Trump’s campaign included — nor is this a conservative bulwark. This column is an attempt to provide depth to a disillusioned, party-conflicted, currently anger-driven discourse.
First, Trump’s campaign must be, and will be, criticized and second, the degree of “criticism” must be addressed.
I mean this as no attack, but rather an affirmation of an ugly truth. If you decided to vote for Trump, then that means one of two things: Either you align yourself with his questionable beliefs and rhetoric — as is your right — or you were dismissive of all the hateful and hurtful things he’s said. And you know what? For those of you whom this is the case, I don’t blame you. You were given a dichotomic choice between a person and an establishment. Hillary Clinton was painted as a wall-street devil who was only in it for the money, who cared about her position more than the lives lost by those in Benghazi. Consequently, somehow a misogynistic, pathologically lying, billionaire businessman was portrayed as a champion for the working people of America. I don’t blame you, nor do I hate you. I understand you. You weren’t given enough time to understand the arguments from either side, because there was no space for argument.
However, just as I stand to understand you, I poise myself to criticize your choice, your candidate and your party. Your candidate alone has said many rude and lewd remarks about women, and it’s not hard to fathom he’s performed some of these remarks. His campaign, and now pre-presidency, is focusing on racism: accepting the endorsement of previous Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and the votes of white supremacists, continuing to push for a Muslim registry and aiming to appoint Steve Bannon — an open white nationalist and anti-Semitic — as chief strategist of the White House. By doing the things Trump has done, he’s brought about an emboldening of racism we haven’t seen present in the U.S. for decades — an emboldening that has seen a spike in hate crimes just within the last week.
I hope you and those who align yourselves with my criticism notice, however, that my criticism is well-founded, factual and not foolish. For those of you who agree with me, I believe we must retract our angry shouts and begin anew with proper criticism. We should not be attempting a discursive criticism by acting like Brooke Henderson, an Alligator columnist, as she claims she can now generalize white people as racists. This idea is foolish, ignorant and hateful. It does not consider the depth in our political system, nor the intricacies voters were faced with in choosing a candidate: some which were noted earlier. And we shouldn’t act like Rafael Hernandez, who openly asked for UF President Kent Fuchs and the rest of us to “condemn hate.” While I agree we should openly call out hate speech, condemnation supersedes criticism and is wrong. It has connotative and archaic ties to publicly punish another person for his or her beliefs. We will not progress as a community if all we’re trying to do is silence and dismiss those who disagree with us: this applies to either side.
Henderson and Hernandez have arguments in their columns that I agree with. Henderson spoke of the fear she’s been having and will continue to have regarding her sexuality, her body and her inalienable rights. Hernandez spoke of the unfortunately affluent amount of hate crimes surging in the week following the election of Trump and why that is a major problem. However, these two, and many others I have spoken to, lost themselves and their arguments in anger. Express your anger — you have the right to be angry — but be careful you don’t hold on to this anger and cause it to become hate directed toward others. We become the demons we wish to destroy if, and only if, we wish to destroy them.
James Hardison is a UF English sophomore. His columns will appear every day this week.
