There's been a popular saying over the four years of Donald Trump's presidency: If Hillary was president, I'd be at brunch right now. This is said to imply that if Hillary Clinton had won in 2016, none of the problems we've seen come to the forefront over the past four years would exist. Therefore, there would be no need to protest or get angry because social justice would exist. We wouldn't need to protest, so we'd be eating brunch instead. This saying implies that a Democrat in the White House leads a perfect country in which justice and equality truly exist, which is not the truth at all.
Joe Biden defeating Trump and winning the presidency is a victory. It's a victory over hate, bigotry and fascism. We can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that we will not have four more years of Trump and an overtly white supremacist government. However, Biden's victory does not mean that we can go back to brunch. It does not mean that we can stop fighting for human rights in our country.
The truth is, Biden and Kamala Harris both have extremely problematic track records, especially when it comes to racial justice issues. Biden has long been praised and embraced because he is an extremely conservative Democrat who is believed to be capable of uniting the left and the right. He became Vice President because he was believed to make Obama look less "extreme", and he won the Democratic nomination this election cycle because he appealed to moderates and anti-Trump Republicans. Don't forget that he also authored the Crime Bill that solidified institutional racism in our criminal legal system. Harris was notorious as a prosecutor for imprisoning Black men for minor drug offenses and putting transgender people in prisons matching their birth sex, not their gender.
Biden and Harris are not the solution to the problems we have in the United States. However, I certainly hope they are a step in the right direction.
While for now we can breathe a sigh of relief because of Biden's victory, once he is in office, we must hold him accountable for his actions and policies. We must continue to call out the government when they are harming the people. We must continue to protest, petition and post our grievances. We must continue to fight for the rights of everyone.
Systemic racism and oppression have not disappeared with the new presidency, and we must continue to actively work towards an equal and just society.
Black lives still matter under Biden. Love is still love under Biden. Women's rights are still human rights under Biden. Trans rights are still human rights under Biden. Human rights have still not been achieved under Biden.
