Skip to content
menu
search
Feature

Welcome to the Resistance

All Americans now face threats under Trump. The question is how to respond.

In These Times Editors

A XENO­PHO­BIC HATE­MON­GER IS ABOUT TO TAKE OFFICE AS PRES­I­DENT OF THE UNIT­ED STATES. For mar­gin­al­ized peo­ple in our soci­ety — the undoc­u­ment­ed, African Amer­i­cans, Mus­lims, Native Amer­i­cans and many oth­ers — life has always been pre­car­i­ous. Now, all Amer­i­cans are expe­ri­enc­ing threats: to our health­care, our basic rights, our prin­ci­ples of com­mu­ni­ty and jus­tice, and, for many, our phys­i­cal safe­ty. How to respond?

One urgent task, as Zack Exley writes, is to harness the legitimate grievances that carried Trump to victory. Many Trump voters, like the voters inspired by Bernie Sanders, were responding to economic populism. They are not to be shunned, but engaged as potential members of the resistance. And we must retire the current Democratic establishment in favor of one that represents the needs of working people.

At the same time, strong multiracial alliances must be forged to protect those most vulnerable under the new administration: the Muslims Trump wants to surveil, the black and brown neighborhoods he wants to aggressively police, the immigrants he wants to deport. We must take to the streets and stand with those who refuse to go back into the shadows, as Prerna Lal urges. Every day, our voices and our bodies will be needed.

The mainstream media and the political establishment pretend all is well. Hillary Clinton enjoined us to grant the next administration “an open mind.” No, we won’t. As Rick Perlstein writes, a Trump presidency cannot be normalized.

Here’s our counterproposal. Let’s instead keep an open mind to the new ideas and alliances rising out of the urgency of this moment. Let’s dare to imagine how our movements can emerge from this dark time stronger and less isolated. Let’s resist the urge to cocoon ourselves in our usual echo chambers. Let’s engage everyone we can to join us as we organize to protect the rights of immigrants, women, people of color, workers and LGBT people. Let’s advance our shared interest in economic justice.

Welcome to the resistance.

Have thoughts or reactions to this or any other piece that you'd like to share? Send us a note with the Letter to the Editor form.
More articles by In These Times Editors
Labor
How to Boost Unions’ Power? Sectoral Bargaining.
Industry-wide bargaining could decrease inequality and improve livelihoods for unionized workers.
What a Just Transition Would Actually Mean for Workers
If there can be a Superfund for toxic dirt, there should be one for workers.
Feature
Social Abstinence Is Not a Sustainable Pandemic Response
The "just say no" approach isn't working. But here's what might.
Similar articles
Feature
Illinois Bill Would Ban State Pension Funds from Divesting from Israel
The anti-worker and anti-Palestinian agenda seem to be converging in Illinois.
Ben Lorber
Feature
Can Ferguson’s Black Community Claim Political Power?
Rev. and Missouri state Rep. Tommie Pierson, who has found himself in the eye of the storm, reflects on Ferguson's recent elections and the DOJ report.
Emmett Rensin
Feature
Why Did Gov. Chris Christie Settle New Jersey’s Pollution Lawsuit Against Exxon Mobil?
One possible answer is simple: money—more specifically, campaign cash.
David Sirota
Subscribe to our free newsletter
Fearless journalism that speaks truth to power
Limited Time:

SUBSCRIBE TO IN THESE TIMES MAGAZINE FOR JUST $1 A MONTH

Subscribe Now