For a lot of young adults, the election of Donald Trump feels
like the outright rejection of our ideals — like all the worst factions in
American society won out over our better instincts. It’s hard not to think the immediate
future is bleak.
But there is
hope.
Progressivism
isn’t dead. It certainly feels like it’s been bashed over the head with a chair
and kicked a few times. But it’s slowly picking itself back up.
While anti-Trump
protests continue into a third week, Planned Parenthood has received more than
200,000 donations since November 9 — at
least 46,000 of those made in the name of Vice President-elect Mike Pence. And
other non-profits have seen their own significant spikes in charitable giving. The
New York Times has added 41,000
paid subscriptions; The New Yorker received more than 10,000 new subscriptions
within three days of the election, and The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Mother
Jones have seen an uptick in paid support.
The greatest
cause for hope, though, is us: young liberals. And it’s time we took that responsibility
seriously.
Clinton won
the 18-44-year-old vote by a significant margin, especially with 18-29 year olds. And that’s despite a
campaign that didn’t quite manage to pick up the enthusiasm Bernie
Sanders created during the primary. As of last July, Millennials and Gen
X-ers surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest block of eligible voters (although
it’s got to be mentioned that those people didn’t come out in a significant way
this election).
Young
progressives have a real responsibility, and an opportunity, now. It will be a
hard fight, but we need to make our voices heard against regressive policies,
against racism, sexism, and xenophobia of all kinds. And while social media has
become a great tool, it can’t replace real in-person activism. It’s more
important than ever for young progressives to become directly involved in local
politics; there are battles to be fought here in Rochester.
And above
all else, we need to recognize our own social bubbles. We can’t be afraid to
talk to those with opposing views. Allies of disenfranchised groups should talk
frankly with our own communities about how a vote for Trump was really a pass
for the horrible rhetoric he embodied on the campaign trail. Men need to talk
to men about the sexism behind Trump’s “locker room talk”; whites need to reach
out to other whites to explain the coded language behind “law and order.” And when
conservatives say, “I was appalled by what he said, but I voted to shake up the
system,” hold their feet to the fire when the Trump administration suggests policies
like a registry of immigrants from Muslim countries.
Trump’s
policies will hurt the people who voted for him — not to mention people in
marginalized communities who have fought for decades for their rights. Trump
pitched his tax plan as cuts for the working and middle classes, but it will be
the top 1 percent who will benefit the most. In fact, many middle-class
families, especially single-parent
families, will see an increase in their taxes, according to the Tax
Policy Center. The center also speculates that the government will lose $6.2
trillion in revenue, so under a Republican Congress, it’s not hard to imagine
significant cuts to the programs many working class people depend on. No one
gets out of this happy.
The future
of the Democratic Party, at all levels, depends on its commitment to
progressive policies, and its ability to effectively communicate to all people
how those policies benefit everyone. Those in power should take note: while the
Democratic bench is weak, this is an opportunity to rebuild with integrity,
honesty, and transparency. Those were policies young liberals were shouting for
during the primaries.
We can’t
underestimate our own power in this post-election period. It’s time to put that
power to work.
Jake Clapp is Arts and Entertainment Editor at
City. Mary Anna Towler’s Urban Journal is on break and will return next week.
This article appears in Nov 23-29, 2016.
