In the days following the election, you probably heard some version of Trump supporters telling liberals we should "all just work together." And despite the fact that these same people were rarely so quick to work with Obama over the past 8 years, you'll probably hear the old refrain more often as Inauguration Day looms near.
It's funny how people who seldom find the time to speak to you otherwise will come out of the woodworks to tell you "let's all work together" when you're upset that they've helped elect a kleptocratic fascist.
The "let's all just work together" refrain sounds good on the surface, but it's actually damaging to our democracy and silencing to people who have been silenced throughout history, the same people who will suffer most under Trump's regime. So let's unpack the phrase.
Trump supporters using "let's just all work together" post-election is a gaslighting attempt to make liberals feel like they're the bad guys. The people who refuse to compromise in most situations look like jerks, right? But that's not the case here.
If ReTrumplicans really wanted to work together, they wouldn't have voted for a candidate that preached building a wall, starting a Muslim registry, nominating white supremacists to Cabinet positions, raping women, scamming people out of money they rightfully earned when he hired them, and ridiculing people with disabilities.
That doesn't sound like working together to me. That sounds like excluding over half of this country. If you're not sure which half it is, take a look at the final numbers for the popular vote. The people spoke and they don't want him. Suffice it to say that since he openly targeted marginalized groups of people with dehumanizing rhetoric on the campaign trail, Trump would not have their best interests at heart in the White House.
So the people saying "let's all just work together" don't really want to work together---at least not with anyone who doesn't look like them, believe like them, love like them, or have abled bodies like them. Otherwise they wouldn't have voted for Trump.
What it really comes down to is that ReTrumplicans want people to "work together" when they're the ones calling the shots. Working together sounds great when you're in charge and you always get your way! This brand of "working together" isn't compromise, it's fascism.
It's also simply not possible for liberals to work with ReTrumplicans on fundamental issues. If you have a racist person and an anti-racist person debating their beliefs, do you really think it's possible for the anti-racist person to meet the racist person halfway? And if you think this example is extreme, you should google all the reports of the KKK marching in robes in plain sight the day after the election. They clearly felt emboldened to let their hate flag fly after Trump was confirmed President-Elect for a reason.
Some things cannot be compromised upon and human rights is one of them. Either you're for social justice or you're against it, and if you're for social justice then there is no pandering to people who would sooner take your rights away than to admit you're just as human as they are. Compromise is for ice cream flavors (swirl, duh)---not human rights.
So the next time someone tells you to stop crying your liberal tears and "just work together" with people who want to roll back 50 years of progress, ask them when the last time they really worked together with someone who believed that all people are deserving of justice, dignity, and respect.
