The personal blog of a Chinese American engineer and music fanatic.
Personal Reflections in the Aftermath of the 2016 US Elections: What Do We Do Now?
Yesterday was my 25th birthday and also the first time I ever voted in a US election. Needless to say, given the outcome of the national race, I did not find it a particularly happy birthday. I had a rather sleepless night last night, as I'm sure many of you did. Feelings of fear and despair were quite overwhelming. I had to think long and hard about how I could personally continue. Now that it is the day after, I feel that I need to get my thoughts out there. So to anyone who will listen, here goes.
Yesterday's election results were hard to stomach. It was unexpected (for me, at least) and the aftermath seems bleak and terrifying. I truly thought that sound minds would prevail and that people would see through an obvious demagogue who preys on our worst instincts. Well, given the results of the popular vote, at least 50% of people who voted did. But in our winner-takes-all electoral system, that is not sufficient. And I realize that no amount of complaining will change that.
Much has been made about the Canadian immigration website crashing during election day. I know that a lot of people are seriously thinking about leaving while they still can. I understand that, and I will admit that, in the depths of my despair, I joked about doing that myself. Certainly as an already one-time immigrant, who is well-educated in an in-demand field and who has relatively few familial ties in this country, I would find it easier than most to leave and set up somewhere else.
But I think this is ultimately selfish and short-sighted. Selfish because others cannot do so as easily and need people to advocate for them. Short-sighted because the US is still the foremost global power and the actions of its government will have far-reaching effects outside its borders.
I still have a shred of faith left in American democratic institutions. In two years time and then in four years time, we will have a chance to rectify our mistake and start undoing the damage. This will doubtless take a long time. We have still not undone the national security apparatus and other societal changes put in place by the Bush administration, for instance. But this rectification cannot happen if everyone who could bring it about leaves the country.
The following plea is directed mainly at other 1.5 and 2nd generation immigrants. Please, let's stay and endure this together. No matter what those in the far right and alt-right say, this is also our country. There are many good reasons why our parents chose to leave their respective homelands and come here, out of all places. Let's stay and defend those reasons for future generations. It will be difficult. Trump's victory will embolden the white supremacists and nativists who supported him. Hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, especially against those of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, may well escalate. The only thing we can do is be careful and watch out for each other. Immigrants in rural counties will be especially vulnerable, but even those living in diverse urban areas need to be vigilant. During my time in New York City, there were a handful of fatal or near-fatal attacks on men of South Asian descent (these attacks were motivated by Islamophobia but the victims were not, in fact, Muslim). Ironically, the diversity and density of these cities may increase the chances of such hate crimes occurring, since there is a higher likelihood of encounters between immigrants and those with anti-immigrant sentiments.
If there's anything to be learned from this election, it is that we cannot become complacent. In the past, I have been very apolitical and did not vote or seriously involve myself in any political causes. I thought that such activity was pointless and that the actions of elected politicians would not directly affect me or those I know. It's still too early to say, since the president-elect has not yet taken office, but I'm sure that this sentiment will be proven to be quite naive. Hopefully, the checks and balances in our political system and the opposition of the American people will prevent the worst excesses. But this depends on effective organization to defend our civil liberties and the rights of women, minorities, and LGBT. If anyone more politically experienced than I am has any ideas on what I can personally do to help, I'm all ears.
To those of you who are more recent immigrants and do not have citizenship, especially those from South Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, I am so, so sorry. Those of us who do have the right to vote have failed you. The next four years will be especially difficult for you. Without a green card or citizenship, you may lose the ability to even stay in this country. And even if you are able to remain, you may encounter intolerance that makes you feel unwelcome. I understand that feeling very well. I grew up in South Carolina, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump yesterday (although my home county of Charleston voted for Hilary, as did most urbanized counties in the US). Through elementary and middle school, I very much felt like an outsider. I was one of a small handful of Asian Americans in a predominantly biracial (White and Black) school. Racial slurs and displays of cultural ignorance were a common occurence. As a consequence, I did not think of myself as being fully American until I was 16 and became a US citizen. If I have any advice to give, it's that you do not need to suffer alone. Seek out those in your area who are in a similar position. This can be others of your nationality, or it can be other immigrants in general. My elementary and middle school life would have been much worse if not for a vibrant and close-knit Chinese American community which organized events to celebrate our shared cultural heritage. My high school life was made much better by attending a magnet school with a high proportion of immigrant children like myself. When everyone is different, those differences become much less important. If you cannot find anyone like that near you, reach out online. I personally promise to lend a sympathetic ear and to do whatever is in my power to help.
To those of you descended from earlier generations of immigrants (for we are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants in this country), especially those who voted for Trump, I don't blame you. I know that most of you are not bad people. There is no way that approximately half of a country can be bad people. I cannot safely say that, had my upbringing and life experience been similar to yours, I would have made a different choice. This failure is on all of us. I understand the frustration with politics-as-usual, the feeling that the economy and society have left you behind. But retreating from the rest of the world is not the answer. America needs the rest of world to succeed and thrive, just as the rest of the world needs America. To withdraw inwards and focus on "America First" can only harm us in the end, as we have seen with the disastrous economic nationalism of the early 20th century. I know this may sound empty when the jobs are moving away and the political and economic elite that has benefitted the most (an elite that I admit I belong to) dismiss your concerns. I don't have a good answer. There most surely are no easy answers. If there is one thing I would like to say, it's that I would like you to recognize our commonality. Just as you fear your way of life is being threatened, those of us whose families are not as well-established in this country now fear our way of life is threatened by a Trump presidency and Republican majority in congress. If there's one thing I can say with certainty, it's that we are your fellow countrymen. We are just as American as you are and we are all in this together. America is the country I grew up in. It is the only country I will call home.
After publishing this, I am going to continue with my graduate research, because life must continue even in the face of great uncertainty. There is still much work to be done. In multiple senses.




I read this post earlier and wanted to pop back to say thanks for writing it. 💙
Well said. <3
As I read this, I'm listening to my album recording of Hamilton, a jubilant tribute to interesting beginnings and struggles. It makes me think fondly of America. It also reminds me that somewhere, someone's struggles and beginnings are always unfolding.
Happy birthday for yesterday! Your beginnings don't always betray the end of your story. Yesterday was a surprise for many people, and out here in Australia we even had a national paper print "WTF" as a headline. But it's not everything; not the end.
I do have a small rant about the journos covering the election though. I'm tired of hearing yet another superficial appraisal of the poor and disenchanted voices of the rustbelt who turned up to vote. It has become a lazy trope; a too-easy-to-tell story that people with little grasp of stats like to retell.
...How about the people who do not bother to vote at all? What is their story? Isn't that also a form of disenchantment?
Thank you for writing this. I'm glad I read it.
To everyone wondering, like I am, what you can personally do to mitigate the worst effects of a Trump presidency, there are many organizations that could use your help and generosity.
https://action.aclu.org/
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/
https://www.splcenter.org/
Those are just the most relevant ones I can think of. I'm sure others know of more.
As a 1st generation immigrant, but one in a community which has enormous problems with bigotry, racism, and vicious tribalism (Chinese immigrants can be extremely, extremely racist), we must live on, even if our very own parents and our parents' friends are gleeful at the prospect of a Trump victory lowering their taxes, ending affirmative action, or finally "restoring law and order", or "stopping black crime".
I hear you, man. Just want to say, don't stop talking to your parents about this stuff. I love her to death, but my mom definitely says some racist and homophobic things sometimes. At these times, I always try to challenge her on her assumptions.
Sending you my sympathies. I care very much for America, having grown up there. I chose to go back to my home country and I've stayed here for mostly the same reasons that you are staying there. I feel that I have to keep fighting the injustice and try to help build and make the world a better place. Cheers from across the sea. It's so hard right now when our institutions are failing us, when we assumed that people would realize the implications and do the right thing. Hang in there. We've all got a long fight ahead of us.
Thanks man. I hope things get better over there, too. The world's going crazy right now, so we have to keep level heads.
Sending you some love from the USA.
oh things are pretty bad here. The death toll of the terrible war on drugs which is killing innocents and the poor has reached 5000. Our Supreme Court just decided to allow the burial of the dictator we ousted, Marcos, in our Cemetery for Heroes. He stole billions and oversaw countless murders and human rights violations :( Don't know what to tell kids here about heroism. Felt the same yesterday as I saw the election returns coming in from there.
Yeah the world's crazy, but thanks, sending that love right back. and hopefully multiplying and spreading it so that it gets to everybody and we can get on the project of making the world a better, more inclusive, safer place for everyone everywhere.
Yeah, so I've heard. That's really awful, man. I hope we don't even get close to that state of affairs over here.
I believe in the good people of America :) it'll come to right. have to believe and hope.
I unfortunately do not have time to make a longer comment but before I forget I wanted to let you know that I really love this post and appreciate the things that you say in it <3