Why the end of Trumpism isn't The End

Joe Biden has won!

Everywhere on social media, I see the world celebrating his return to the White House; and more importantly, rejoicing that Trump is finally out. Some people are throwing parties, other people are condemning those people … but what we all have in common is that 2020 has given us some good news, for once. But, because of that, it's easy to lose focus now.

After a year of being at home and/or protesting on the streets, we are exhausted. After fighting for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and at least 28 (mainly Black and Latinx) transgender and GNC people who've been killed this year, along with so many more, it's so easy to let that exhaustion win and say that the battle's over.

But, let me tell you what I think: people just want to be ignorant. Ignorance is bliss. It's simpler, as a white person, to deny racism. Simpler, as a cisgender person, to say that transphobia doesn't exist. Way simpler, as a man, to say that we don't need feminism anymore. It's less complicated if you just refuse to admit the homophobia, xenophobia, ableism, and classism that stays systemically entrenched in our societies (matriarchies exempt). You'll be happier that way!

But Donald Trump did not create these systems; nor have they gone away with him. When Obama was President, he was esteemed as the first Black President of the US of A: a momentous 8 years, after the country's dark racist past. So everything that was still going wrong was either ignored or just a bump in the road.

That's where the USA made its most recent mistake.

When Trump was elected in 2016, you all lost your minds (rightly so) and complained everything would only go downhill from here (wrongly so). But when Obama was still President, and Biden his VP, you all disregarded their own crimes - the unmanned drones in the Middle East just weren't affecting your country, so it was fine. Now your own rights had been threatened. But, just as I laughed when Trump said Make America Great Again, I couldn't help but think, 'this is not a new thing, this is a catalyser of all the old things'.

As long as the US still has an outdated Constitution from over 300 years ago, puts immigrant kids in cages, and murders innocent people at a much higher rate than most countries, there is no great America. Fact check: they've been putting kids in cages since the days of the Obama Administration; this was just highlighted under Trump's presidency.

The world got introduced to Trumpism, and we outraged about all the things I've mentioned above … but why now? Was it really that easy to overlook the flaws of a President for the sole reason he represented the underrepresented? And then revolt because someone else did the same things as him? Don't get me wrong, Trump is no doubt one of the worst leaders in world history - the COVID situation is proof enough of that, but how did so many people simultaneously choose to ignore then open their eyes?

Trumpism did not introduce anything new to the US or to the world. It served to wake us up to what had already been going on for so long beneath our unaware noses, and it will be unforgiveable if we now act as if it has suddenly disappeared now that a certain person is leaving the White House. We cannot forget that everyone who voted for Trump is still here, and they are not changing their opinions. They've been here for a long time, and what Trump did was empower them enough to become louder and stronger. Do not expect hate crimes to go down from now; do not expect a return to the status quo. Do not let it happen. Because Trumpists are not relenting, either.

The battles you fought under the Trump Administration have not been won or lost yet: you still need to bring justice for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the 28 trans and GNC people. You still need to ensure that the people affected by COVID-19 see a future post-pandemic. You, the people, still need to look out for yours in the communities you're part of, because it just isn't in the interests of rich politicians - no matter who they are - to look out for all of you.

The end of Trumpism isn't The End because Trumpism was not The Beginning. Trumpism was the modern-day climax. Now we, as the People, and as the Authors, have our duty to bring this part of the story to its End.