After four days of what can only be described as anguish, on Nov. 7, it finally felt OK to breathe again.
We learned then that a new administration was imminent, Joe Biden having turned historically conservative states such as Georgia and Arizona “Blue.” We had collectively defeated Donald Trump at the ballot box, though his behavior in the time since suggests he is constitutionally incapable of admitting defeat. Yes, after four long chaotic years of xenophobia, nativism, incompetence and vengeful pettiness, 45 has been fired from his own reality TV presidency. It really felt like victory.
But what exactly is it that we have won? Our broken institutions—systems built upon the genocide of Indigenous peoples and the enslavement of people from the African continent—produced the conditions that gave rise to Trump. They were established long before he arrived and will remain in place until radical reforms are made. The man we just elected to take office in January is a middle-of-the-road Democrat who will most likely do little-to-nothing to dismantle the structures of oppression that became so obvious during the Trump years.
Voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was the only rational choice and therefore a logical first step out of hole we have dug for ourselves, but let’s not kid ourselves that they are the answer to the many ills afflicting the U.S. today.
Have we forgotten that Biden was vice president of the administration that deported 3 million people? Because now would be a good time to acknowledge that Cecilia Muñoz, Obama’s top immigration adviser, has been named a member of Biden’s team.
With the killings of George Floyd,Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and many others at the hands of law enforcement, let us not forget that Harris—though a woman of color and the first female vice president—targeted Black and Brown communities as California’s Attorney General and fought for innocent people to remain in jail. Nor let us forget the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as “The Biden Crime Bill,” the largest bill of its kind ever to be passed.
While we are at it, let’s not forget how the Democratic establishment efficiently derailed the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, who ran a progressive platform of universal healthcare and combating climate change.
Yes we have defeated Trump, but we must not allow ourselves to become complacent now. We must not settle. After eight years of George W. Bush, we elected the first Black president in this country’s history. But our collective complacency following Obama’s election was rewarded with a bailout of Wall Street, mass deportations and drone strikes on innocent people.
On issues of Climate Change, restorative justice, healthcare, standing up for Black Lives and migrant rights, we’re at a time when real change is needed. Even now, Democratic leadership seems far more interested in bridging the divide with white Trump supporters than listening to the needs of Black, Brown and Indigenous people, whose mobilization in states like Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin ensured a Biden victory.
With Biden, my fear is he not only won’t deliver on the change we need, he will ensure that the American Empire continues to run as it always has: exploiting the very people who make this place worthwhile.