One Week Later, Some Thoughts on the Election

As I sat in another graduate student’s office watching a live stream of the presidential election results coming in, I felt nervous. Earlier that day, my husband and I had made a quick trip down to Colorado to turn in our ballots. We’re still registered to vote in Colorado although we live in Wyoming currently while I attend the University of Wyoming for my master’s degree. We had missed the deadline to mail in our ballots, but we felt that voting was important, especially in this contentious election. Later Tuesday night, I was in my office working. I went next door to my friend’s office to ask about something and got glued to the screen watching coverage of the results. Soon, another friend showed up, and while we had all hoped to get work done, we were engrossed with what was happening. As it became clearer that Hillary Clinton would not gain the 270 electoral votes needed to win, I was surprised by the rising feelings of anxiety and despair I was experiencing. I had no idea I was emotionally invested in this at all until I sat watching the results roll in, a sinking, sick feeling in my stomach.

If you didn’t already guess this, no, I did not vote for Donald Trump. Of course, that comes as no surprise to some of you. But others are offended with me already. I’d like to explain my reasoning in voting and my feelings now, both as a way to process things myself and as a statement to my friends and family, encouraging a productive and respectful dialogue if you’d like to engage in that.

I also want to be very clear that I in no way am saying that all Trump supporters are racists or sexists. I have seen some use that language, and to me, that is not a productive way to engage with differing opinions. I know many Trump supporters who are people I love and respect, and I do not think these people are all angry, hate-speech-spouting bigots by any means. With this post, I am just hoping to explain my own thoughts in a way that you can hopefully understand and respect. In this time of political and social tension, we need a dialogue now more than ever. In order to do that, we need to be willing to share our points of view, but more importantly to listen to others. I encourage my students to listen to understand, not just to reply, and I think that kind of listening is important here. That being said, I want you to understand me, and that is my main goal here. But I also want to understand you, so please feel free to leave a comment and/or reach out to me to talk, if you are wanting a respectful dialogue and not an argument. Okay, here we go…

Once the options were down to Clinton and Trump, I found myself pretty conflicted and uncertain. I did not feel that either of these people represented me, my concerns for this country, or my values. I began thinking and praying (as I have with many decisions in my life that have been important to me) about what I would do come Election Day. I believe that voting is a right and a privilege, and I feel that if you don’t vote to try to make your voice heard, your complaints afterwards are a bit unwarranted. Sure, you still have a right to voice those complaints, but if you didn’t vote to try to make a difference, I have a bit less forbearance for your grumbles. So I knew that I wanted to vote, but I also wanted to vote with a clear conscience. Unfortunately, as the campaigns went on, my conscience was not completely clear regarding either candidate. To me, Hillary Clinton represented so many things that are wrong with politicians. On the other hand, Donald Trump represented so many things that are wrong with our culture. I weighed pros and cons of the two. For the first time, I listened to every presidential debate, genuinely curious to learn about what the candidates wanted Americans to know about them, what kind of ideas and plans they had for our country, and how they would choose to present themselves. Overall, I am sad to say that I was unimpressed. I wanted another option.

Let me say now that I do realize I had other options via voting for a third party candidate or writing in a name, but I felt that this would be throwing away my vote. I wish that we did have a multiparty system rather than a two-party one, and I hope someday we get there. However, at this point, we’re not there, and I knew a third party would not win. So I needed to deeply consider who would earn my vote, Clinton or Trump.

I’d like to now say some things about my identity and my position as a voter. I was raised in a very conservative Christian denomination. I think most of the adults who had a hand in raising me have a history of usually voting Republican. I grew up among people who championed Republican views, and probably people who vote party-line Republican, no questions asked. I also have some conservative views myself, to be honest. Additionally, I am a woman, and a woman of color, and I have experienced discrimination as a woman of color. I have been discriminated against at various stages of my life, but lately my status as a person who is a target of some forms of discrimination has come to the forefront of my mind because of several experiences I’ve had living in Wyoming and attending the University of Wyoming. I cannot pretend that my position as a woman of color who has experienced discrimination did not affect my vote. I’ll also throw into this explanation regarding my position that I feel very much compassion towards and respect for asylum seekers and refugees. I was honored to work at the Global Refugee Center through AmeriCorps during my undergrad. As part of my position, I had to recruit volunteers. I went to classes and groups as the University of Northern Colorado and gave presentations about who refugees are, how they get to the United States and to Greeley, and how people could help. What I’m saying here is that I am pretty educated about the process. My master’s research also focuses on asylum seekers and refugees, so again, I am pretty educated about these issues. But more than that, I have interacted with these people. I have heard their stories, I have seen their efforts and their struggles, and they have touched my heart.

All of these identities/positions contributed to who I would vote for. But ultimately, I just wanted to act based on my love for humanity. This has been a guiding principle in my life, and I am proud of that. I have friends from all over the world. I have friends of many different religions. I have Black friends, White friends, Latino and Chicano friends, Asian friends, North African friends, Middle Eastern friends, African friends, European friends. I have LGBTQ+ friends. My friends, the people I love and care about, come from so many different combinations of backgrounds. And I want the best for them. I want the best for all of us. And because of that, I couldn’t vote for Trump.

I still felt that Clinton was not the best, but I did feel that she was significantly better than Trump. She had the support of her party, she unified (not all, but some) people more than she divided them, she shared some concrete plans with America aside from just claiming that her plans would be “the best” or “huge” and leaving us to wonder about the details. Trump, on the other hand, had many issues with his party throughout the campaign, he caused endlessly more divisions, and I could never really get a good sense of what his plans were regarding a number of issues. Considering my identities, my positions, and the people I love and care about deeply, I could not bring myself to vote for a man who showed a lack of control over his emotions, and a lack of control to such an extent that his campaign staff took away his twitter account access for concern that he would say something more to hurt his campaign (yes, we all get emotional, and emotions can be difficult to control, but someone in the high position of leadership of POTUS should be able to keep his or her emotions in check and work through things reasonably). I could not bring myself to vote for someone who has unfair (and frankly, uneducated) views towards refugees and immigrants and who encourages the American public to share those uninformed views. I could not bring myself to vote for someone who made gross generalizations in calling all Mexicans who come to the United States rapists and drug lords. I could not bring myself to vote for someone who made comments that further harmful stereotypes about Muslims. I could not bring myself to vote for someone who, when asked what he would do to make Muslims feel that they were safe and a part of this country, went on a rant about “radical Islamic terrorists.” I could not bring myself to vote for someone who insulted and said he did not trust our nation’s security and who said he would imprison his political opponent. I could not bring myself to vote for someone who insulted veterans. I could not bring myself to vote for someone who was dismissive of bragging about sexual assault. I could not bring myself to vote for someone who referred to mental illnesses as signs of weakness. I could not bring myself to vote for someone who carelessly and without regard for consequences makes flippant comments about other nations and other world leaders (again, people are entitled to have whatever opinions they want about these things, even if they are uninformed and flippant, but the POTUS should be someone who can express his views and concerns with tact and diplomatic ability rather than in an offhand, I-can-do-whatever-I-want way that might get our nation into trouble). …I think I’ll stop here since I’ve addressed my main concerns and those that were deal breakers for me.

And then, he became president anyways.

I had never really fully entertained the thought, “What if Donald Trump is our next President?,” because I didn’t really think he had enough support to make that happen. But I did think that if that happened, I would probably be a little disappointed and then move on. So imagine my surprise while sitting in my friend’s office feeling so much anxiety and overwhelming hurt. I could not explain my feelings at first or even the next day. They took me by surprise, and I really had to think about things and process why I was feeling the way that I was.

Now let me be explicit: I am not hurt that Hillary Clinton didn’t win, and I am not hurt that Donald Trump did. I am hurt that after someone attacked my some of my identity and made it okay for other people to do the same, his actions were rewarded. I am hurt that voters didn’t see racism and sexism to be important. I am hurt that now, many of my friends are dismissive towards these concerns. I feel that my identities as a woman of color and as a rape survivor have been even more marginalized. I feel like my fellow Americans said, “We know who you are, and we don’t care.” I feel like people have offered nothing more than an eye-roll towards my wellbeing and the wellbeing of so many of my friends. And it hurts.

But what hurts the most for me is the aftermath. So many of my Facebook friends are cheering and reveling in the glory of Trump’s win. Be happy that the candidate you supported won by all means, but too many posts have crossed a line. I’ve seen too many people say things like “get over it,” telling people to “stop being so dramatic,” to “quit crying and whining like babies.” People who fear for their wellbeing are being approached with ridicule and dismissive, careless attitudes. People’s concerns over what to tell their children now that America has demonstrated that bullying and hate speech can win you the highest office in the land are being trivialized and made fun of. People who have shared resources for support are being mocked ruthlessly. Listen, I can see the point. It is a presidential election, the results are in, we should accept them and move forward as a nation. But this is about more than politics. People, real people, your neighbors, your coworkers, your so-called friends are afraid because their identities have been attacked, because the President Elect has made it okay for Americans to express hate and if the next POTUS can get away with spouting hate speech, anyone and everyone can. I’ve seen people express that they are tired of political correctness, tired of walking on eggshells, and tired of being called racists. I’m trying to understand those feelings, but I think coming from that stance indicates that you have a lot of privilege and that it’s inconvenienced by those who do not.

Still, I’ve seen some hopefulness in the midst of the ugly and polarized aftermath that has unfolded. When I got going on Wednesday morning, one of the first posts I saw was from an Egyptian friend who I met in Germany this past summer. I want to share his words with you:

Ahmed with his post gave me some encouragement that even if our leaders are not the kind of people who are going in unify people for positive change, we still can be.

Later, I was embraced by my community of McNair Scholars (a program for underrepresented students I participated in as an undergrad) after our assistant director, Karen Krob, tagged a bunch of us in a post that read:

I am still processing myself, and so I do not know the "perfect" words or "perfect" response, but I can office sincerity. I love you. I care about each of you, your well-being, your present and your future. I will support you in whatever way I can. In the eloquent words of my friend Stacey McKenna: "I will be your ally. I will put my body in places to keep you safe and give support. I will speak up when I hear words that perpetuate oppression. I will set aside my privilege to create space for yours. I will do it on your terms."
I am so proud of you. Thank you for you.

Karen’s words and the words of her friend Stacey gave me comfort and showed me that I am a part of a community of people from these marginalized backgrounds who find strength in each other, and who support and uplift each other.

I went to my class, “Women, Gender, and Migration,” and I was relieved that the professor chose to make the first several minutes a safe space for students to talk about their thoughts and feelings regarding the outcome of the election. This professor, a Mexican-American woman who I look up to and appreciate endlessly, said it so well, when she said, “I feel like America just broke up with me.” I feel that too, and I feel like America said, “It’s not us, it’s you.” In the first part of that class, students cried, students were angry, but it was a healthy time and space to process.

I went to another weekly meeting for the Planning Committee for the Shepard Symposium for Social Justice, and I was comforted by a community that promises to continue working together to promote social justice for marginalized groups.

These words and experiences were a breath of fresh air for me.

And after all this, I feel like I’m more certain than ever about who my community is. And this realization is also difficult for me. As I said earlier, I was raised in a conservative Christian denomination. Values I was raised with and people who invested in me in that setting are still near and dear to my heart. They are a part of me, and I love that part of me. But I was devastated to see that in the aftermath of the election results, it was mostly these Christian people who bragged about Trump winning and name-called and dismissed people on the opposing side. It was mostly these Christian people who I saw telling people to get over it and stop acting like babies. It was mostly these Christian people who trivialized the concerns and fears of my other friends and myself. My community is the people around the world who share the same values of equal rights and social justice. I would like to think that those are Christian values, and for me, they very much are. My passion for equal rights and social justice comes from my perspective as a Christian as much as it comes from my position as a woman of color.

But many, many Christians have showed me lately that they are not interested in those values. And that really breaks my heart. As a Christian, I believe that in the aftermath of this election, it is my role and responsibility to act with compassion, with love. Even if I had voted for Trump, as a Christian, I feel that it is my rose to help the hurting. It is not my place to dismiss anyone’s concerns, to mock anyone, or to spread hate and division. It is my duty to hear people out, to comfort them, to respond with love.

I’d like to end with some wise words from my husband...

I am full of curiosity on what these next four years will hold, and I hope that we continue to progress as a nation, progress to a nation that has open arms to the hurting, progress to a nation that listens, that actually uses facts and not emotions to make decisions. And regardless of what the President does that does not change who I am or what I stand for. I will continue to show love to the least of these, I will continue to support the acceptance of refugees, I will continue to support rights for all citizens, not just the rights of people that I agree with or identify as. I will not sit on the side line holding my nose up saying that this is the worst and offer no assistance, I will try to unify people with the similarities that we have instead of pushing the differences to divide us. We are all human after all.

Let's Talk... My Views on the Syrian Refugee Issue

I've been thinking about picking up with blogging again since I started in the MA program in the Global and Area Studies department at the University of Wyoming in August, but since I'm in grad school now, I'm busier than ever. This blog has not exactly been at the top of my priority list, and carving out time in my schedule to blog has been nearly impossible. However, with everything going on in the world right now and the vast array of responses I've seen, I thought I would weigh in on things. What I had to say was going to be much longer than a facebook post or a tweet's worth, so I thought now was the perfect time to start this up again.

First, let me clarify my positionality. I believe there is no such thing as an objective stance on an issue, so let me be the first to admit my personal biases. I've worked with refugees and international students, I've made long-lasting friendships with Muslims, and I'm currently deep in research for my MA thesis that pertains to the Syrian refugee crisis. That being said, I think these things illuminate my view rather than cloud my judgement. So yes, I'm going there... I'm going to delve right into the midst of the controversy and explain my own thoughts about whether or not the United States should accept refugees.

Wednesday, soon after I arrived at my office, I got a call from a colleague of mine. It was strange timing, but this particular colleague has been connecting me with many people for my research, so I thought perhaps it pertained to that. When I answered, he immediately said, "Did you see what Mead did?!" I hadn't, but he proceeded to tell me that Wyoming's governor, Matt Mead, had joined several other state governors in refusing Syrian refugees. After the attacks on Paris on Friday, November 13, security concerns about refugees have spread throughout a large number of European nations and U.S. states. Beginning on Sunday, U.S. governors started declaring their refusal of refugees. As of Wednesday, 31 states' governors had issued statements refusing refugees. Here's a nice graphic from PBS to give you an idea of which states these are.

Now, states do not actually have the power to make these kinds of decisions. Without getting too deeply into that, I'll just say that the Refugee Act of 1980, which was an amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, signed into effect by President Jimmy Carter, places the power to admit (or deny) additional refugees in the hands of the President and the Attorney General.

Anyway, my colleague, knowing that I am conducting research on a certain aspect of the Syrian crisis, wanted to see if I would be interested in somehow letting Governor Mead know that the entirety of the Wyoming population is not against refugees. While some governors may have been more informed, it seemed to us like Mead rushed to this decision to go along with what other republican governors are doing (all but one state governor who are against accepting refugees are republican). Just to clarify, Wyoming doesn't even have a refugee resettlement program. Thus, this should not necessarily be a big concern for the state. However, Mead also claimed that there are no refugees in the state right now, and I highly doubt that.

My colleague and I decided we would talk more once he got to my office (and I'll save the outcome of that talk for another post). In the mean time, I read several news articles from various sources (I like to read an array of sources to see the biases in things and get a better picture of the whole story). I also browsed my facebook news feed to see what kinds of things my friends were saying about the matter. The more I read, the more disheartened with humanity I became. The sheer hate that people were expressing was staggering, and let me tell you, throughout the day Wednesday, I refrained from commenting on all but three things because I knew I wouldn't be able to help myself from calling people out on their ignorance. I wanted to gather my thoughts before posting anything or commenting. But, in case you were wondering, here are the three things I felt warranted me opening my mouth...

I believe this was the first thing I commented on. I'd seen it being reposted by a number of my "friends," and I got tired of shaking my head and scrolling on each time. I would copy and paste my comment, but the person whose post I commented on deleted it instead of replying. I said something like, "I understand people are scared, but the ignorance of this post is mind-blowing. 10 in 10,000 is nowhere close to the number of refugees that could pose a threat to the US. This is a terrible thing to spread."

This lovely image to the right is the second thing I commented on. As a Pentecostal from Colorado, I have the Colorado Pentecostals page "liked" on facebook. I saw this post because a friend of mine shared it. It actually drove me to tears. I took a screenshot so I could repost it here. Here's what I said in response:

"I understand that people are coming from a place of fear; however, it deeply saddens me to see Colorado Pentecostals comment on this in such a way. When I saw this post in my news feed earlier, I was brought to tears and ashamed that I am affiliated with this page. As someone who is educated on these issues and is currently doing research and an MA thesis on issues pertaining to refugees, I can only assume that whoever is responsible for this page did not take the time to fully understand. Please stop spreading this hatred. It is not the Christian thing to do."

I also added this link to my comment https://meredithbrunson.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/to-american-christians-who-reject-refugees/
(Kudos to the author. I think what you said is wonderful!)

Throughout the day I began to notice a trend in my news feed that I thought was interesting. Generally, my friends who I know because they're former professors, friends who I know because we had a class together once, my fellow McNair scholars, and fellow grad students were all posting things about how ridiculous it is to equate Islam with terrorism or to equate terrorism with refugees, about how states don't have the power to refuse refugees or about general humanitarian issues for refugees. On the other hand, generally all my Christian (Pentecostal and other denominations alike) friends were posting about how refugees are dangerous, how Muslims are terrorists, and how the U.S. ought to keep "them" out. What can I even say? This breaks my heart.

I said I commented on three posts. The third was the post of a Christian young lady who shared the link above, "To American Christians who reject refugees" and said, "This applies to more than the American Christian refusing refugees... Everyone read it and reexamine yourself." Yes, she got backlash for saying that. However, other than my husband, she was the ONLY Christian facebook friend I have who brought this to light, so I commented telling her she was amazing for posting it.


Finally, here's what I have to say to you all:

To my Muslim friends,
I am so deeply sorry that you have to constantly defend your religion. I am sorry that people see you wearing a hijab or hear you speaking in Arabic and automatically shy away from you in fear. I am so sorry for many of my fellow Americans' and my fellow Christians' feelings toward you. Let me apologize for my nation's media, for our gossip, and for our actions that spread hatred and equate you and your religion to terrorism. It is not right, and it is not fair.

To my refugee friends,
You have changed my life and opened my mind. You are wonderful, amazing, strong people who I have never seen act in violence or aggression. I am sorry people in this country think that accepting you will somehow hurt them. I am sorry that people would rather judge you and discriminate against you than learn about you, your experiences, and your culture. It's such a shame. My life has been enriched by you, and I am a better person for knowing you.

To Wyomingites,
Wyoming is supposed to be the "equality state," yet I've never in my life experienced such racial discrimination as I have here. If Wyoming truly was about equality, you would not be so quick to turn away refugees. Wyoming is nearly 93% White, and diversity is almost nonexistent and is rarely welcomed here. Inclusion of underrepresented groups is an issue on the UW campus, and it is an issue in this state, which I am learning more and more each day. I know you may be convinced that refugees are too much of a threat, and I know you may think that Governor Mead did the right thing, but I would encourage you to think about the kind of environment you are creating in your "equality state" by being so hate-filled. I hope that you can open your arms and your hearts to diversity. I hope that you can open your mind to education about the issues you are concerned about.

To my fellow Christians,
As I expressed before, spreading hatred is not the Christian thing to do. Matthew 25, specifically verses 34-45, is the attitude we ought to be taking on.
The Old Testament contains several verses about welcoming the foreigner, or stranger, showing them kindness, and even providing for their needs. The New Testament contains the greatest commandment, to love God with your all of your heart, soul, and mind, and the second greatest, to love your neighbor as yourself. And who is your neighbor? Read the story of the good Samaritan.
Think about this... Jesus Christ was turned away and rejected by people from the time he was unborn in his mother's womb as Mary and Joseph searched for a place to stay until the time He died. In fact, He's still rejected by people today. We preach the love of Christ and yet we turn our backs in hatred and in rejection of people who are deeply in need. How dare we?
As Christians, we should be shining examples of mercy, love, and compassion. I could insert a list of verses to prove this, but I think you all know them... you just have to remember them now.

To my fellow patriotic Americans,
I had an English professor who would say that proving you're really American meant sticking it to the next immigrant group. History proves this is true. It seems the most recent immigrant group is always the most avid haters of the next. With the current issue of Syrian refugees though, it seems like everyone is getting in on the hatred.
I understand that you may be afraid of the security threats that bringing in refugees may pose. That is a very real fear, and I do not take it lightly. However, I do not think our great nation should be characterized by fear. I also do not think our great nation should be characterized by hatred or Islamophobia. If you are one of the people afraid or concerned about our nation's security, I encourage you to educate yourself further about the refugee resettlement process to this country. Maybe start with this video:
How Do Refugees Enter The U.S.?
Without saying anything about either Huffington Post or Obama (seen towards the end of the video), I can tell you that the process shown here is accurate. I know this from my time working with refugees in Colorado. Trust me, the U.S. is not sending planes to pick up huge groups of people from the middle of nowhere and dropping them off at the airport nearest you. It is extremely difficult for a refugee to gain entrance into our country. They have to be referred to us from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), considered high risk enough (therefore this is usually mostly women and children), and then they have to get through a series of background checks, interviews, and health screenings. Syrian refugees cannot just walk right in.
In this time, I think we ought to remember our history.
It's time we remember what being an American really means.
You know what the inscription on the Statue of Liberty says?

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Our founding fathers were refugees in a way. This country has been built on the backs of refugees. In fact, in a sense, we are all refugees and immigrants. Maybe you yourselves are not, but unless you are full blooded Native American, look a few generations back and you'll fine refugees and/or immigrants. We are all tied to them. We are them. And I think that's part of what makes this country so great.



If you made it to the end of this long, long post, thanks so much for reading. I realize these ideas are contentious, and I would love to have a dialogue with you about anything and everything I've talked about. Feel free to comment; however, I ask that we try to keep comments a dialogue and not an attack. It would be great if we could approach each other with respect and understanding about where we're coming from and why we think the way we do.