Let's Hear It for Role Models!

Congratulations !

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris! 

My daughters, granddaughters and I watched Joe Biden and Kamala Harris accept the election results on Saturday evening November 7, 2020. We shared their joy and I was SO glad when it dawned on me that I could point to both Biden and Harris as role models for my granddaughters.

I haven't written about the Trump Presidency on this blog.  I just couldn't.  It is difficult to understand how such an unqualified and quite vulgar human being ascended to the highest office in our land. It is painful to comprehend the damage he has done to this country, how much division he is responsible for, and how many people have been hurt by his rhetoric and his policies.  

At the time of this writing, over 240,000 people have died of COVID. That's 240,000 empty chairs around the table and 240,000 holes in their loved ones' hearts.

Trump was not my president, and it says a lot that he never even tried to be. He never reached out to voters who cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton in 2016.  I could not wish him to succeed because his success meant that my daughter could lose her health insurance, my cousin's marriage could be invalidated, and families of immigrant children I teach could be torn apart.

So much has been written to disparage Hillary Clinton's 2016 candidacy - but frankly - I admired her and was proud to vote for her. 

But the bottom line for me has always been this:  

When faced with those two choices in back in 2016, enough people in swing states to make it possible for Trump to win the Electoral Collage (though not the popular vote - nearly 3 million more Americans voted for Clinton). They voted for the man who spent years promulgating the lie that President Obama was not born in this country, mocked a disabled person for sport, bragged about using his celebrity status to sexually assault women, spoke in truly gross terms about his own daughters, defrauded well-meaning people out of their savings with a fake university, used crass nicknames like a child when referring to his political opponents and still impulsively tweets in the middle of the night like a marshmallow-eater.  And this list is not exhaustive by any means.

I've felt so demoralized and disheartened by the Trump presidency for the past four years.  As a woman I was outraged.  As a mother of daughters I was outraged.  As the daughter of an immigrant I was outraged.  As someone who loves nature I was outraged.  But as an educator, as a teacher of children, I was just sick.  Heartsick. I could not point to the president of the United States as a role model for the children in my classroom.  I could not say, "Be like him", because I didn't want them to be like him.  He embodied everything we teach our children NOT to be.

President Obama was a model of integrity and leadership.  He was a role model of a loving and faithful husband and father, obviously delighting in time spent with Michelle and their daughters.  Their joy in each other was palpable. He always took the high ground in the face of unprecedented and overt racism and hatred by some Americans, blatant disrespect for the office he was elected to and total obstruction by the Republican leadership from the moment he was elected.  President Obama was a leader to be proud of who gave hope to young people, especially young people of color.  And he was so cool, and so full of grace.

I am sure that some people I know who voted for Trump may be racist, bigoted and homophobic.  Even if others who voted for him are not, their vote for him signified that they were okay with putting a man in office who is all that and more... misogynistic, xenophobic and a narcissistic bully.  

As a woman and a mother, and the daughter of an immigrant, I do not understand how any woman or mother or any immigrant, or anyone, frankly, voted for him.

But to my mind, the very worst thing is that some people who identify as Christian voted for him.  They somehow looked past all the truly vile and gross stuff, the public affairs, the three marriages, the porn stars, the use of crass language in public, the mocking of a disabled man, the vulgar talk about women, the anti-immigration policies that are a clear example of what Jesus would not do, and yet they chose this man as their leader.

I hope that we can put these four years past us now.  

Joe Biden has said on multiple occasions that he wants to be president for ALL Americans, not just the ones who voted for him. He has known great tragedy and great love in his life.  He shows joy in his family and his work.  He is compassionate, humble and is indeed a role model.

Kamala Harris is the first woman elected to be vice-president. She's broken that glass ceiling! As a woman of color and a career woman she is a role model for America's young women.

I am looking forward to day to day normalcy.  

I'm weary of the daily outrage and the use of the term "unprecedented" that typically described the latest outrage that would have marked the end of a career in normal times.

I have hope that the new president and president-elect will lead our country with dignity and humility. I'm looking forward to noon on January 20, 2021!