What do we say to our children

November 9, 2016 (morning after the election)

My son cried this morning and said he didn’t want a war with ISIS. And Trump will appoint crazy people to the Supreme Court. And what will other countries think about us. And Trump won’t let Muslims come or Hispanics.

Q — Did we retake the Senate, mom?

No, they took it all.

What do we say to our children?

Here’s what I said to mine.

I’m not going to lie to you. There is no good here. The republicans control all branches of government. And will appoint justices we’ll be dealing with for years.

I think it happened because hate is real. Fear is real. Ignorance is real.

We’ve talked before about the changes in the country.

Marriage equality.

A black president.

White people soon becoming a majority minority.

Some people are afraid of those changes. They want to keep the power they’ve held for hundreds of years.

Other people are afraid that they’re poor, that they don’t have jobs and they want someone who will change things even more.

And a lot of people are ignorant. Uninformed and unengaged.

Hate is real.

But we’ve been lucky. I grew up after the civil rights movement, after women’s lib. You’ve lived practically your whole life with a black president.

But the country has been in dark places before. We started with slavery and killing native Americans. With no rights for women. Granddad risked his life in a military that wouldn’t even let him on base without a white escort.

But we’ve gotten better.

Hate is real. But so is love.

We still believe in freedom, and inclusion. In everyone getting an equal chance. In treating people with respect. In being kind.

And if we want the country to be that way too, who’s going to make it that way?

Q — we are?

That’s right. We are. You’re going to go to school and mommy’s going to go to work. And we’re both going to fight to make America a better place.

Half the country disagrees with us. But half is on our side.

And as long as we’re here, it will never be all bad.

Go brush your teeth and get ready for school.

I love you.