Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., has never been someone to shy away from difficult issues. That's why Clark convened a public conversation at Cambridge College on Dec. 3 to acknowledge the fear and anxiety many of her constituents feel in the face of a pending Trump presidency. The goal was to give them practical tools for combating hate and intolerance.
"As I've seen the appointments and the structure of the Trump administration take place, my concerns are mounting, not dissipating," Clark said during the forum. "We have to be vigilant. We have to be armed with facts, and we have to be making sure that we work together to create and protect our inclusive communities.”
Millions of Americans are under threat from the recent uptick in hate crimes, calls for a Muslim registry, anticipated threats to abortion access and copay-free contraception, fears of being targeted because they are transgender, and threats to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Clark’s office has fielded hundreds of calls since the election from concerned constituents, she said.
Against that backdrop, Clark pulled together an expert panel for an open discussion about what lies ahead: John Robbins, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations; Eva Millona, executive director of Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; Christian Miron, deputy director of NARAL Pro-Choice; and myself. Eva Martin Blythe, executive director of the Cambridge YWCA, moderated.
Questions from the audience highlighted how women and people on the margins have the most to lose in a country pivoting away from their full protections and participation in a multicultural democracy.
“Our democracy is on the line,” Clark told the audience. "This isn't about Democrats or Republicans. This is about what we have for our future. We need our citizens more than ever to be involved.”
Massachusetts will be one of the better places to live during the Trump administration, Miron told the audience — and a bulwark against the flood.
“Here in Massachusetts, we are uniquely positioned to act as the forefront of the resistance to the Trump administration’s policies to roll back civil rights, to roll back access to health care, and we can do that through our state Legislature,” she explained.
A Trump presidency is a disastrous opportunity. For those of us with multiple identities and concerns, Trump encourages us to take an intersectional view and to stand fast against the potential dismantling of decades-long civil rights gains.
That's why it is imperative that the predominantly white forum audience build bridges across communities and comfort zones by becoming race conscious and investigate the impact of race-distancing strategies, I told them. To take those bold steps, I suggest that they first deconstruct their whiteness and privilege then ask themselves how they are white and how white they.
For Robbins, it's important to start building bridges of understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims. “Could we have an Islam 101 talk?" He suggested. "Could we have a meet-your-Muslim-neighbor talk? Could we have a class where we take turns reading the Quran, or the Torah, or the Bible?'"
Overwhelmingly, attendees gave the public forum two thumbs up and looking forward to more.
"Today's discussion was a good start," Susan Fleischmann, executive director of Cambridge Community Television, told me. "We all need spaces to share our shock and fears, and even hopes. As several of the questions revealed, the challenge for all of us is going to be to climb out of our silos to really understand and align with the issues of others.
