We all agree that it is a divided country. Some of us were really shocked though, that it appears that we are so polarized on what we thought were basic American values such as civility, respect, freedom (“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”), equality.
We have elected a man to the highest office in the land, the leader of the free world, who time and time again showed through his actions and speech that he represents the antithesis of our espoused values. Can I believe that he was just being sensationalist to appeal to the racists, sexists, bigots and xenophobic but he does not really believe in the things that he said and did? I am reminded by a quote by Maya Angelou…“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” It was not just the first time or the second time or the third time that we had an opportunity to witness Donald Trump’s views and dreams for the United States and the methods with which he intends to get there.
We teach our children…
- Be nice to one another
- Don’t be a bully
- Cooperate
- Tell the truth
- Treat people who are different from you equally
- Don’t make fun of people who are differently abled
- Be prepared
- Do your homework
- Listen and learn
- Get qualified
- Follow the rules
Donald Trump fails to follow any of these basic, simple tenants. As many of us Diversity and Inclusion practitioners try to take participants in our training sessions to higher level concepts like becoming culturally competent and attending to our unconscious biases, it seems like more than I thought might not be ready for that discussion. It appears that we need to go back to the basics, the things listed above that we learned in kindergarten.
I know that I am showing my bias. Some of you may be reading this and thinking well Hillary Clinton did not pass the “what we teach our children” test completely either, but I would doubt that we can put more checks in her column than in Donald Trump’s.
Where do we go from here? Keep the full court press on for inclusion. Continue to teach our children it is better to “do the right thing” regardless of poor role models. The road just got steeper and considerably more bumpy. However, those who believe that our strength lies in our diversity and our future lies in our ability to be more inclusive, must continue to be the change we seek. We cannot waiver. It may feel like we have regressed but let’s use this new reality to beat the odds and make even more progress.
