Which Side of History

Today Americans vote to elect the nation’s 45th president. Though the campaigning has been going on for over a year, this long ago stopped being a political decision and became a moral one.

The history has already been written, both literally and figuratively. We’ve been down the road of fascism before, and it ends horribly for everyone. But even if we didn’t have the lessons of decades past, that literal historical roadmap of horror and hatred, we live in a world in which history is written in the moment, and we’ve spent the last 15 months filling the history books with moments so dark and depraved they have already recorded for posterity.

Our children and theirs will look at pictures of Trump rallies in history books the same way my generation now squirms in uncomfortable puzzlement when we see pictures of the Jim Crow south, of protesters beaten at lunch counters or mauled by dogs. They will ask with the innocence of children why we treated each other so horribly, why some people thought it was okay to belittle, beat, and bloody others. We will answer with the cynicism of adults, because that’s how some people were. There is no other explanation for hatred.

It matters who wins for the future of the country, but not for the history books. The history has already been written. There is only one question left to ask: Which side of history were you on?

When you wake up on Wednesday morning, can you address the person in the mirror confident that you used your voice to combat bigotry, push back against stupidity, and deny hate? Or will you be blushing the same shade of orange as the fraudulent sex-offender you supported?

The only thing it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing. As true today as it ever was. There is evil on the ballot today. Ruinous evil. An evil that mimics Hitler and inspires its followers to burn churches and use violence on the innocent. Did you stand up against it? Or were you on the wrong side of history?

#DomesticAffairs