Trump victory frightening, but Canada should not be smug

Shock. Revulsion. Smug satisfaction. Pragmatic optimism. Our reactions as Canadians to the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States mirror our own culture back to us. We know Trump’s victory has meaning for our country, for the entire planet. But before we try to understand the geopolitical consequences of a Trump presidency, we should dwell on the way this historic event is making us feel.

My overriding emotion is fear. I am terrified by Trump’s victory and by the loathsome campaign he waged for over a year. Trump targeted and attacked specific groups of people — women, Muslims, indigenous people, black people, Mexicans and Latinos — based solely on their respective identities. He has per- manently endangered the lives of vulnerable people by normalizing hatred of them. Trump has degraded standards of humanity not only in the U.S., but in places such as Canada, where many are actually congratulating themselves for electing less monstrous leaders.

I am afraid for my sisters and brothers of African ancestry in the United States. I visited St. Louis last weekend before the vote. I stood on the sidewalk outside the Maryland Heights Police Department with Tranell Stewart, a young black man who was protesting a beating he received days earlier from police. The police told Stewart he was being pulled over for failing to signal. They beat him so badly that one of his eyes swelled shut. His infant child was in the back seat.

As Stewart, his wife and a handful of others stood near the road last weekend, holding up signs with messages condemning his treatment, an endless stream of white motorists slowed down to swear at them, to give them the middle finger, to mock them with phrases like “white lives matter more!”

Trump didn’t create this kind of hatred, but his violent, racist rhetoric will ensure it continues and thrives. The president-elect egged on supporters at rallies when they attacked black protestors. Besides the vague promise of jobs, Trump’s only other major pledge to black residents is that he will bring in more police to stop and frisk them in their own neighbourhoods. His candidacy was an assault on blackness and his presidency will be no different.

I am afraid for the indigenous people in the U.S., who repeatedly heard Trump refer to Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” after she claimed indigenous heritage.

Trump’s statements are more than ignorant talk — they coincide with the struggle of indigenous people at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, who are trying to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline project. For months, indigenous demonstrators have been attacked by police and the National Guard. This will almost certainly continue under Trump, who is friendly with the Dakota pipeline owners. Trump’s support for the Keystone XL pipeline also threatens to revive a fight against indigenous people on the stolen territory we call Canada. Trump’s indifference to indigenous peoples will manifest in his actions, not just his words.

I am afraid for people such as Maan Singh Khalsa, a Sikh man who was beaten by two attackers in the San Francisco area. The attackers beat Khalsa and used a knife to cut off some of his hair. Attacks against Muslims, but also Sikhs, in America have increased in the Islamophobic aftermath of 9/11. Perhaps the attackers don’t know the difference between Muslims and Sikhs. Trump’s campaign promise to ban Muslim immigrants will only inflame and encourage the ignorant.

I am afraid for every woman in the U.S. who has experienced sexual violence or who will in the future. The election of Trump — a self-described and unrepentant perpetrator of sexual assault — is another brick in the towering wall of patriarchal Western culture.

A number of Canadians seem to be taking smug satisfaction in his victory over Hillary Clinton. In an apparent attempt at contrast, Canada’s official Twitter account posted photos of black and brown people dancing and singing in traditional clothing, with the words, “In Canada, immigrants are encouraged to bring their cultural traditions with them and share them with their fellow citizens.”

How Canadian of us to see a neighbour’s suffering and to congratulate ourselves for our relatively happy position. A great many of our neighbours are understandably terrified. Now would be a great time to reassure them we will be there for them, instead of simply reassuring ourselves.

Desmond Cole is a Toronto-based journalist. His column appears every second Thursday.

Donald Trump didn’t create this kind of hatred, but his violent, racist rhetoric will ensure it continues and thrives