By Graylan Scott Hagler of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)-USA
I have watched people go back and forth in blaming one another or having to defend their actions that led to the outcome of this election. People have criticized those who voted for a third party, or the protest non-vote that stayed home, and the numbers of people who voted for Trump as a political whipping to the other side. I believe that here were tactical mistakes, and we have to be far more analytical and strategic in casting our votes in this flawed system. The system has always been flawed and will be until there is a radical restructuring of it. Unfortunately, in this moment white supremacists are engaged in fortifying as well as restructuring the system to entrench hatred and xenophobia. Having said that, I want to say that we cannot spend time blaming one another.
We are in trouble, and we must defend and protect one another. We must educate each other about the real United States’ history and also understand the experiences and suffering of other people. Palestinians are experiencing a genocide. Blacks have experienced genocides and are struggling to prevent another. Gay people have been beaten and attacked. Trans people are under attack. Immigrants are being deported. Women are faced with an extreme white male culture of misogyny. We don’t have time to point fingers at one another. Yes, we must educate each other, but the time is now that we work together, pull together, learn our histories, and work not to repeat the past. We must at this time embody the call that was so clear during the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, “Forward Ever, Backward Never!” This we must do from now on and not turn on one another.