Dark forces won the electoral battle. Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States from January 20, 2017 to January 19, 2021. The Republican Party will control both the House of Representatives and the Senate. And most likely, it will also take control of the Supreme Court.
The great tsunami of change that travels the whole world became a wave that added racial hatred, xenophobia, misogyny, and simple ignorance to accumulate the electoral votes that has bring the whole world into a state of shock.
The billionaire and television personality who has never held any public office managed to crush the Establishment that (at least) since the presidency of Bill Clinton has promoted economic globalization and a politically correct social agenda.
Like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at the time, Donald Trump won the ballot box the opportunity to start a political adventure that lived up to his ego and personal ambition.
And yet …
The worldwide popular repudiation of Trump’s triumph, and, above all, the need for different social groups in this country not to surrender to what the new president represents, shapes a new reality that involve a situation in which their own survival and also the model of democratic, humanitarian, and pluralist civilization is at stake.
Given the new scenario, the natural alternative of those who defend an agenda of gender equality, respect for diversity, human rights, and an open vision towards the rest of the world, could be synthesized in a basic concept: citizen power.
In that context, vital tools to survive in the coming battles will be the rule of law, the very values of freedom, tolerance and the constitutional principle of equality before the law, as well as the defense of universal human rights, the very narrative of the American Dream.
Although it is clear that one thing is the rhetoric of the campaign and another the logic that imposes the realpolitik, there is no doubt that, from the beginning Trump’s presidency is a grievance for much of the progressive causes of our time, from religious freedom, the defense of the environment, respect for minorities, the fight against poverty, international solidarity, among many others.
This is particularly true for various segments of American society itself. Starting with women, religious minorities and, of course, the Latino community.
Capable of handling the media circus at his will, Trump used the most extremist groups to attract the searchlights, but he concentrated his message on the poorer and less educated segments of the (still) white majority. Thus, with his offer of change into the abyss, the mercenary genius of today’s President-elect Trump was able to win the 59 million votes that will bring him to the White House, including 29 percent of Latino voters.
Nevertheless, and although it was little taken care of by the media noise that clouded much of the electoral process, it is worth to emphasize the historical vote superior to the 13 million votes of the diverse groups that conform that enormous minority of more than 55 million people and that – beyond Trump and what it represents- will soon be a third of the total population of this country.
Insulted by candidate Trump, Hispanics know well that their fight did not end on November 8. Confronted by President Trump’s threatened mass deportation of the 11 million people who live here without their immigration documents in order, for Latinos the fight will be much more than a matter of values. It implies their own presence under one roof of their mothers and fathers, and the economic viability of their daughters and sons. Even his own personal freedom and, in many cases, his own life.
Therefore, solidarity and unity are a must. Together, in alliance with the majority who did not vote for Trump, Latinos will face this challenge and, surely, become a stronger segment within the American people.
