As we tumble headlong into the final hours preceding the 2016 elections, I can’t escape this feeling of dread that gnaws at me from within. It comes from the cloud I see on the horizon of Wednesday morning, a cloud that exists regardless of the outcome – from the Presidential election down to our state and local elections.
Whether you’ve voted already or not, I encourage you to read Evan Osnos’ piece in the New Yorker – President Trump: What would he do? It provides an extremely sobering examination of what to expect from a Trump presidency – foreign policy (including historical alliances and European stability), social justice issues, nuclear proliferation, addressing climate change, economic policy, and the list goes on.
His naive reliance on supply side economics alone should be enough to raise the hair on the backs of our collective necks. Just look at Kansas’s current economic crisis created by Governor Brownback’s reliance on trickle-down economics, and then project how that will likely play out at the national level. Not to mention the fact that our current economic divide between the haves and have-nots can be traced in part back to Reagan’s supply side focused economic policies.
For Kansas itself, Tuesday’s election outcomes do offer some degree of hope. The landscape of the legislature will likely continue the change that began during the primaries, when many of Governor Brownback’s ultraconservative allies were ousted by moderate Republicans. But how much more change will occur is subject to debate.
Kansans, if you need some state level voting recommendations, for yourself or your friends and family across the state, I’d recommend taking a look at the following two (though there are several other good sources of information out there):
Even if we end up with a moderate Republican/Democratic coalition that is able to effectively work together, essentially making the governor inconsequential for the remainder of his term, and we retain our supreme court justices, we have a long road ahead of us. There will be years spent rebuilding the state’s revenue and addressing other damage that’s been done since Brownback took office.
As a school board member, I worry about district budgets during this rebuilding time, and what it will do to public education in our state. Even if the elections go as needed, Brownback and his allies will have succeeded in landing a painful blow to Kansas public education (and other public services). While I feel some bitterness towards those who voted for Brownback (and not just once but twice), as well as those who simply stayed home the last two election cycles, the bitterness is muted by the growing recognition that our state needs a change of direction.
But despite that recognition, nationally Kansas is still a red state, and it more than likely will go for Trump on Tuesday. I am embarrassed to say that the Topeka Capital Journal editorial board, one of our state’s major papers, endorsed Trump for President. They are one of a very few papers across the nation to do so, sharing that notoriety with the KKK’s newspaper, the Crusader.
Trump’s obvious personal, professional and political shortcomings have seemingly helped him become the flag bearer for a segment of the American population (primarily white, less educated, male, lower socio-economic status) who feel disenfranchised economically and are afraid of the social changes (driven in part by demographic changes) occurring within our nation. These are the social changes currently embodied in part by Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, LGBTQ and Women’s rights, etc.
Ironically, by voting for Trump (and various ultraconservatives in federal, state and local races) many of these individuals are voting against their own interests. Hillary’s goals and values are actually more in line with meeting their economic needs than Trump’s. Though how much Hillary will be able to accomplish as President is a big question. With congressional Republicans already stating they’re going to investigate and block her at every turn, it seems that gridlock would continue (depending on the outcomes of key Senate races). And that’s despite her significant past experience working across the aisle.
The chasm that divides us, that seems to prevent us from talking to each other and empathizing with each other, represents a threat to our society – it represents a threat to our democracy. And not just in the U.S., but around the world. And it impacts all levels of society, from global interactions down to our individual communities, including our schools.
The Lawrence, KS school district, USD #497, has as one of its primary missions the continued improvement of equity within the district’s schools. That includes district level and building level equity teams, a focus on improving the cultural relevancy of our curriculum and creating safe spaces for minority students, their families and minority teachers/staff to speak out. Equitable public education is an absolutely necessary foundational component of a strong and healthy democracy.
But the backlash occurring nationally against efforts to combat institutional racism and improve equity, the violence against minorities and protesters that occurs, undermines all of the equity work that we’re trying to do locally in our schools. What does it say to students of color when Native Americans are brutalized for protesting to protect their own land, while white armed occupiers of federal land are acquitted of their misdeeds? What does it say to them when the GOP presidential candidate is a white man who has exhibited clear traits of bigotry and misogyny? What does it do to their trust of white teachers/staff, a white male superintendent, or myself, a white male board member? When issues of discrimination arise within our district, why would they trust that we will address them in a fair and equitable manner?
As I’ve stated before, I believe we need a stronger social glue, and that requires greater interaction across the divides of politics, race, class, etc. It requires “… a greater occurrence of shared experiences (even if just mentally placing oneself in another’s shoes) and greater equity of prosperity and security.” Regardless of the outcomes of Tuesday’s elections, we’re going to have to figure out how we start communicating across those divides. Otherwise I fear that cloud could turn into a raging storm.