baltimoreblackwoman

Rav Daniel: Hey Jackie, It’s been quite a week, and I’ve been thinking of you. How are you holding up? How are you and the people in your life processing the election results?

Jackie: Hey Rav Daniel, It certainly has been. Thanks for reaching out. I’m holding up okay. I’ve navigated all the stages of grief, all at once. The first day, I was numb and couldn’t function at all. Since then, I’ve found that continuing to engage in my normal routines–attending scheduled community and spiritual meetings with friends and colleagues, and communicating with folks in my sphere–has helped me stay grounded. I’ve also built in self-care time: Journaling, reading, house cleaning, napping, and watching escapist TV shows.

My social media posts (Facebook and Instagram) are my real-time expressions of how I’m feeling. The responses I get from friends and family show that we’re all going through similar emotions and coping mechanisms, except for a few religious folks for whom faith, prayer, and (for me) an impossibly positive attitude (“God will provide”) are their go-to response. I’m spiritual but not especially religious. In general, regardless of race and culture, most of the people I know have had reactions similar to mine.

How have the people in your life been handling the election outcome?

Rav Daniel: Totally with you on escapist television! Most of my people are pretty shocked as well. There definitely seems to be a prevailing numbness, a sense that bad things are coming but not knowing exactly which will take shape in the near term. The women and LGBTQ folks (and those who love them) in my life seem the most acutely distraught. 

While Beth Am’ers are predominantly feeling somewhere on a spectrum between disappointed and horrified, this is not monolithic in the Jewish community. In Baltimore County, there are lots of Harris supporters, but also there are plenty of folks who feel Trump will be better for Israel, for example, even if many of them still feel repulsed by his character, his misogyny, his criminal record, etc. I know he gained ground in just about every demographic, including with African Americans. Do you have a sense of why that might be?

Jackie: To your first point, many of my friends and family, including women and LGBTQ folks, also have that nebulous dread about what’s to come. So many tenuous rights at stake, as well as fears about the communities they live in (Blues living in Red communities). And, yes, issues like Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, and immigration are concerning for them, too. A few are even considering leaving the U.S.

African Americans are not monolithic either. Part of the problem is generational. Most of my friends and family members are in the 40+ age bracket: old enough to have lived through part, if not all, of the Civil Rights, LGBTQ Rights, and other rights eras, not to mention the broader history of the U.S.–wars, economic issues (equal pay, union vs. non-union jobs, disappointment over the loss of the classic middle class dream and the American Dream, etc.), building and raising families, and so on. But the younger folks, especially those in their 20s, don’t have a clue about all that. They have different points of reference. All they know is the Internet Age. All their knowledge, skills, needs, wants, and desires are what they’ve been fed through their phones! They have too few guardrails to make decisions based on knowledge, reason, or even the school of hard knocks. And it’s not their fault, really. The older generations failed them, in large part, thanks to the fractured education system we handed them.

Yet, with all those differences, they too have had to deal with police brutality, unfair hiring practices, discrimination for being non-cis,… and just trying to make a life for themselves. 

For the life of me, I don’t understand why any young person would choose Trumpism. Sadly, they respond the same way some other marginalized groups do: with the attitude that “It can’t happen to me.”

Rav Daniel: I think it will be a long time before we understand the full impact of this election. In the meantime, I’m really grateful we continue to lean on each other in Reservoir Hill. Healing our fractured society is going to take a lot of work. Appreciating friendships like ours seems like a good place to start!

Jackie: Indeed. Our friendship and the work we’ve done to build community in Reservoir Hill–and greater Baltimore–are key to healing our fractured society. “It takes a village….”

A version of this column will appear as the December “Baltimore Justice column of Jmore.