Fourteen Things that the U.S. Election 2016 Has Taught Me

1. The United States has a racist underbelly. Still. In 2016.  See here.
2. The media has an overwhelming liberal bent, as evidenced by the many memes and parodies of Donald Trump and the reporting on his campaign. There is a decided anti-Trump tone/angle to the news.  Some may say that is a good thing.  Not necessarily.  This means that the media is not just reporting the news — it’s interpreting it too.  We are getting the news filtered through an ideological lens. This is especially problematic because the news is how most people become informed of the issues facing them and others around the world.  The media influences our thinking.  We hear nothing about how there are only 30 doctors left in Aleppo, or how to effectively donate to Haiti, but we hear everything about Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.  The media has a huge responsibility, and I am not sure that they are discharging that responsibility very well.  We need the media to be a neutral news source, and leave the thinking and interpretation up to the thinking viewers.

3. Just because you are eminently qualified doesn’t mean that the job is automatically yours – especially if you are a woman.
4. Speechwriters are lazy and plagiarism is in for the win.
5. When people don’t like you, they will search deep – and I mean deep – into your past and release a private (but nonetheless disturbing) conversation that you had 10 years ago a month before the election.
6. People so easily overlook the lewd comments of a man. Can’t overlook Nate Parker, and had to begrudgingly and eventually come to terms with Bill Cosby, but they can overlook “locker room talk,” the trivialization of sexual assault and consistent misogyny from Trump.
7. You can do or say virtually anything – as long as you are pro-life, Christians will support you. Oh – and Christian leadership can be especially disappointing.
8. People are complex. The esteemed neurosurgeon has turned out, at times, to be a blundering fool.  We must never place people on pedestals.
9. Politics is dirty. People will use past mental illness (see here too) or the unfaithfulness of your spouse years prior and throw it right back in your face.
10. Favoritism is real.  Again, politics is dirty.
11. None of the candidates truly understand Black America, and are content to just pander to it or confuse it with the “inner-cities.”
12. Michelle Obama said she had never been more proud of her country. Colin Kaepernick protest says that his country still has serious issues.  Donald Trump says that the United States are “losing” (*insert Donald Trump accent*) to other countries like China (*insert Donald Trump accent again*) and that we need to #makeamericagreatagain.  White privilege in a nutshell.
13. Some people don’t only defend their racism, but want to be congratulated for it.
14. The first Black first lady can serve as the moral arbiter of an election. People respond to authenticity – not talking points.
15. This election has been shameful.  How can the United States be a beacon of democracy and fair elections for other nations when theirs is almost as corrupt?

Photo Credit: Raw Conservative