We Let Them Off the Hook

Donald L. Daniel III
Nov 10, 2016
3 min read

America has shown her true colors. I've known it all of my life. I've seen it acted out. I've experienced it acted out. I needed no confirmation.

The division that we see -- as I have said a million times before -- has always been there. Bigotry, hate, religious extremism, and xenophobia have always lain just below the surface of words like patriot, liberty, and justice.

All those negative things that have always taken residence in the soul of our nation only needed one small push, one small breeze to fan the flames of the soul of ignorance and exclusion that America seems to always want to ignore.

And here I sit uncomfortably numb.

Dennis Green, late NFL coach, said it best, "They are who we thought they were! And we let them off the hook!"

I say this full well knowing that everyone who voted for President-elect Trump doesn't consider themselves a racist, an Islamaphobe, homophobe, or Xenophobe. I acknowledge that some people out there flat did not trust Secretary Clinton. I get that. I get the reasons.

What worries me is that this election cycle DID have the effect of uniting. It united those who feed off of hate. Rival hate groups actually united in Georgia earlier this year to prepare to fight what they see as the coming race war.

We let them off the hook.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) VT, ignited a revolution that the DNC establishment attempted to stamp out by stealing a primary election. It has monumentally backfired. Because we were left with an establishment candidate running against an anti-establishment candidate, the lack of experience did not outweigh the anger and disillusionment. The elites in the Democratic party made a gross miscalculation.

We let them off the hook.

Many of us sat and watched helplessly as Trump's campaign for the White House so emboldened a large segment of his supporters that they finally felt the freedom to release all of the repressed hate that had been holed up in their frail minds. Instead of taking the voices of hatred and discontent seriously, they were continually brushed off as outliers.

We let them off the hook. We let them off the hook.

Do not mistake me. I do not hope that President Trump fails. I do, however, hope that those that he has empowered in their unbridled hate can see the humanity in others. I hope that when people of color, of different faiths, sexual orientations and national origins are maligned and assaulted that well meaning people will step outside of the shelter of their own privilege and oppose that which opposes humanity. I hope that we, as a nation, will stop accepting excuses for racism. I hope that we can stand firm for the cause of religious freedom in the face of an opposition that would choose to control our bedrooms, bodies, contraceptive and worship practices. I hope that, as we move forward, we will no longer accept a progressive establishment that is as tied to corruption and moneyed interests as those on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

We have two years until mid-term elections. The work doesn't end with an unfavorable election result. We must place steel in our spines and plan diligently. We are fighting a two-headed demon. Establishment politics must fall for the sake of all people. In these uncertain times, we must come together to ensure that the people are properly represented at the local, state, and federal level. We must steer away from the career politicians who make decisions based on the wishes of those that lined their pockets rather than the electorate for whom they are supposed to work. Enough is enough. This is our country too, and we will lose it if we don't make fundamental changes in the way we operate.

We are the resistance. We can no longer afford to let them off the hook.