(ThyBlackMan.com) If anyone thought that our battle for a better, more prosperous and more inclusive America would be won on Election Day, they now realize that our fight has just begun.
During the lead up to November 8, President Obama reminded us that hope would be on the ballot this year — and fear would be on the ballot, too. America listened, and more Americans chose the presidential candidate of hope this year than chose the candidate of anger and fear.
This is a truth that we must not forget, although, because of our electoral system, the candidate who ran on anger and fear will become the President next January.
Whether he becomes our President, earning our trust and support, will be up to him. The trust and support of the American people are not the byproducts of hopeful words. They must be earned.
Thus far, however, Mr. Trump is not meeting that challenge. Although he has declared that he wants to be a President for all Americans, Donald Trump’s initial appointments have raised both consternation and alarm.
He is acting as if he has a mandate that he has not earned. However, when polled by the Washington Post, less than one in three Americans (29 percent) responded that Donald Trump has a “mandate” to carry out the agenda that he presented in his presidential campaign.
Mr. Trump will become the Chief Executive of a nation united in our values and aspirations — but deeply divided on how best to fulfill those shared goals. Nearly a super-majority in that same Washington Post poll (59 percent) concluded that he should be willing to compromise in order to bridge these national divides.
His failure to gain majority support should evoke caution and humility, not hubris. Yet, it remains to be seen whether Donald Trump will learn that compromise is an absolutely necessary element of our system of government — and not a sign of weakness or lack of resolve.
Only the future will tell us whether Donald Trump will grow in the presidency or whether the displays of arrogance, ignorance, prejudice and personal conceit that we have witnessed during his campaign will continue to endanger our nation and cripple his ability to bring about constructive change.
What is already clear is that his campaign of anger and abuse has deeply injured our nation and created widespread uncertainty and fear, both here at home and abroad. The American People need to be reassured that we remain a nation that is far better in spirit and far more committed to justice and fairness, respect and inclusion, than the political campaign that we have just endured.
To any and all who are feeling threatened or abandoned in this time of national uncertainty, I can assure you that you will have strong allies in the days ahead.
I remind you that our commitment to the civil and human rights of every person is unshakable and absolute. We will fight together against bigotry and injustice wherever they seek to attack our humanity, whether in the workplace, on the street corner or in the government of our great nation.
In the words of my heroine, former Congressman Barbara Jordan, “My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total.” My faith in the wisdom and ultimate goodness of the American people is just as strong.
This is why, despite our very real and justified concerns, I remain confident that our progressive movement will overcome this time of challenge and peril, just as we have overcome other perils in our past.
We Democrats are already hard at work laying the foundation for those better days. We have adopted the most progressive agenda for constructive change in our nation’s history — an American Agenda that is a comprehensive strategy for economic and social change.
To those who are suffering disillusionment or economic pain, this is our pledge. We will push for our American Agenda’s enactment into law for as long as it takes.
Along with Senators like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, we progressives who serve in the House will continue to oppose the Republican’s failed “trickle-down,” supply-side economic policies that have deprived far too many working families of their hard-earned gains.
In their place, we will continue to advance consumer-driven “demand-side” initiatives like job-creating public investment, debt-free higher education, a guaranteed living wage and true collective bargaining.
We will continue to fight for more affordable healthcare and the cleaner, more sustainable environment that our survival requires.
The candidate of hope did not win on November 8, but the movement for a better America and better world continues.
We will continue to stand up and fight for the people we serve and the generations of Americans yet to be born.
Written by Congressman Elijah Cummings
Official website; http://twitter.com/RepCummings
