Since the painful Election Day results, I, like others, have been using social media to connect with friends and other like-minded people, and also just to see what’s going on. A recurring theme I’ve seen is “we will survive this.”

This, However, this is not just a bump in the road, nor is it just a wrong turn that we might be able to correct in four years.

This Was America showing us its true colors, for those who perhaps weren’t paying attention or just didn’t want to believe everything we saw in the mirror. I include myself in this second group. This has been a stress fracture inflicted on a nation where far too many people still see “us” and “them” instead of “us,” and my growing concern is that this may be an irreparable fracture .

America has failed and we will all pay the price

What happened wasn’t about what Kamala Harris did wrong, or what Joe Biden did wrong. Both gave their all to try to save a broken nation from itself.

It is America that has failed, and we will all pay the price. That includes Trump supporters, as they are about to find out. This also includes much of the rest of the world, as the projected devastating impact of Trump’s stated policies – such as mass deportations and excessive tariffs, not to mention letting Russia’s Vladimir Putin do whatever he wants with Ukraine – will send shock waves far beyond our borders. internal situation.

I’m happy to see the sense of community and encouragement that has survived an event that most of us never imagined could happen even once, let alone a second time. Mutual support and encouragement are essential. But with respect, I also think it’s time to be extremely honest about what has happened to us and take an honest measure of the threat we likely face.

The first step is to recognize the fact that while most of us will survive this situation, it is likely that some of us will not. This isn’t hyperbole or left-wing Chicken Little hysteria; this is simply a sober assessment of what Trump has already told us he plans to do.

For those of us who survive it, the next four years – or more – will be something to endure, as we figure out how to get to the other side. Survival will not necessarily be a reason to feel grateful during the coming storm, but constantly nervous and afraid because of the reckless uncertainty this rage-fueled administration will bring in its wake.

Pain, suffering and destruction

So it’s not a question of whether America has the potential to repair itself. After all, we finally got rid of slavery. But this change of direction required a civil war, which nearly destroyed the country, and after slavery inflicted unspeakable horrors on hundreds of thousands of slaves every day for more than 200 years.

You see, when we talk about how we overcame some horrible periods in history, we must remember all the pain, suffering and damage that was endured during almost unbearable periods before the end came Ultimately. Joy may come in the morning, as I have often heard in church, but there are times when the darkness of the night long delays the rising of the sun.

This might be one of those times. The election of Trump is a step backwards that, in the worst case scenario, could cause us to lose almost all the progress we have ever made.

White supremacy – and the legitimization of violence as the law of the land – has been part of this nation since its founding. Donald Trump has openly expressed his support and admiration for the purveyors of white supremacist ideology, not only in the United States but elsewhere in the world, such as his flattering relationship with the white supremacist leader in Hungary, Victor Orban , who “predicts” that Trump will abandon Ukraineand was the first European leader to congratulate him on his victory.

Notice: Trump’s mass deportation plan for undocumented immigrants would change Michigan

He told us what he was going to do

We need to realize what’s coming, and we can start with the cornerstone of Trump’s re-election strategy, the proposed mass deportation of illegal immigrants. According to a recent article by a renowned historian and political commentator Heather Cox Richardson on Substack, “…deporting up to 20 million people will be a logistical nightmare and is expected to cost between $88 billion and $315 billion per year. At the same time, much of the U.S. economy depends on undocumented immigrants, and Republican businessmen will certainly oppose the loss of their workers.”

Such an operation it would also require thousands of Americans to complete such a massive effort by turning against their fellow Americans, alerting authorities if a neighbor was suspected of harboring an “illegal,” a “terrorist,” etc. Largely non-white communities like Dearborn and southwest Detroit could become a targeted community, seen as harboring “undesirables.”

Notice: These Republicans have said they would oppose a national ban on abortion. Will they do it?

Right to abortion

Then there is the question of the right to abortion. Although Trump and his team attempted to significantly backtrack on their opposition to abortion rights during the campaign, once it became inevitably clear how unpopular the issue became with the majority of Americans, he and his administration can do whatever they want, because he won the election. .

The fact that women are already dead Following the dismantling of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court, thanks to Trump-appointed justices, no longer represents an obstacle to his becoming president and is no longer a reason to tone down anti-abortion rhetoric. Trump no longer needs to pretend that he wants to be the protector of women.

RIP, FDA?

When it comes to our health, Robert Kennedy Jr., who is expected to play a key role in shaping Trump’s health policies, has said he intends to eliminate the FDA’s nutrition department. What does this mean? From the FDA:

“FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) administers the food program. CFSAN ensures the safety of the human food supply, dietary supplements and cosmetics, as well as the proper labeling of foods and cosmetics. The Food Program is responsible for a safe food supply and ensures that FDA regulations and guidance provide clear and reliable guidance and assistance to the industry, both inside and outside of United States, with the goal of achieving high rates of compliance with standards necessary to protect public health. and meet the expectations of consumers and stakeholders.

As for those who wish to protest anything Trump doesn’t want you to protest, he basically talked about stamping out any unwanted protests, by any means necessary.

From the ACLU: “Trump has already indicated that his administration would consider invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy the military in American cities – potentially targeting those with large BIPOC and immigrant communities – to remove the right to manifest. Trump also said his administration would attack free speech online by forcing media companies and online platforms to broadcast conservatives’ favorite speeches.

For those who want to know more about the seriousness of the situation, take the time to read Project 2025. This should provide all the details you need. Mass expulsions and the complete eradication of abortion rights are key elements of this project.

Opinion: How we can save America after the presidential election of November 5

I continue to believe that the best way for us to survive as a country after the election is to eliminate the concept of “us” versus “them” and view all “us” Americans as simply “us.” as radically as we can do it. disagree, as I wrote in my last column. Because once we give ourselves permission to leave out a particular part of the country, it becomes easier a second time, and so on until we no longer have a country, just a group of colonies right-thinking people perpetually at war with each other. .

I still believe that America can be us. I just hope we haven’t passed the point of no return.

Free Press columnist Keith A. Owens is a local writer and co-founder of Detroit Stories Quarterly and the We Are Speaking Substack newsletter and podcast. Send a letter to the editor to freep.com/letters and we can publish it online and in print.

This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: Under a second Trump presidency, survival will not be enough