From: MTEA <zomborm@mtea.weac.

org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2016 5:30 PM
To:
Subject: Yesterdays presidential election

Dear MTEA Member,

Yesterdays presidential election was a travesty for our country and promises a new round of
losses for public education. We have elected a man who proudly promotes racism, misogyny, and
xenophobia and plays to the most backwards sentiments of large swaths of the American
populace. Perhaps one of the most startling revelations of this election has been the extent of the
deep seated racism and sexism in our country.
There is no way to sugarcoat these results. The presidency, senate, and house of representative
are controlled by some of the most right leaning politicians in recent history. Many of the much
cherished foundations of our national social safety net could be threatenedincluding the
Affordable Care Act and Social Security. Certainly significant court decisions like Roe V. Wade and
executive orders signed by President Obama on immigration hang by tenuous threads. We do not
yet know the extent of the damage to come. We know we have a president who will take office in
January with disdain for women and minorities, and little respect for the rule of law and civil rights
and no respect for scientific fact.
From Brexit to Trumpthere is a worldwide "whitelash." After eight years of Barack Obamas
presidency, we may have all underestimated how much resentment and racial backlash was
bubbling under the surface. We have now seen it. But there are significant facts from last night we
need to remember

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. As of this writing, she has received about 193,000
more votes nationally than Trump.

This was actually a LOW TURNOUT election, at least compared to 2008 and 2012. As of
this writing, there were about 6 million fewer votes cast than in 2012 and 8 million fewer

than in 2008.

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have received fewer votes than Mitt Romney did in
2012.

This country and our kids and our families need us to mourn these results and they need us to
fight. Tyrants can only survive as long as the people allow them to survive. Frederick Douglass is
much quoted today to remind us that,
Power concedes nothing without a demand.Find out just what any people will quietly submit to
and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon
them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The
limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress," Fredrick Douglass
(1857).
Our children will feel this unmasking of racism and misogyny in very deep ways. Hillary Clintonan
imperfect candidate, whose campaign did not truly embrace the significance of the Bernie Sanders
movement, and who was under siege by a massive misinformation campaignstill WON the
popular vote. This is a divided country with a bizarre electoral process. But we do need to find
hope in those numbers. And we can find hope in local races, as educational referenda won in
many communities across our state. And fundamentally we find hope in the resiliency of our
movement.
MTEA members have stood up against tremendous odds before and we will continue.
As educators we will continue to do what we do bestfight for the rights of every child. All
Milwaukees children have the right to economic security, safe neighborhoods, a life without fear of
deportation, economic security, and a fully funded public education system., They have a right to
live a life free from all forms of discriminationwhether racial, religious, or based on national origin,
language, gender, sexuality or physical/mental abilities.
Our students are paying close attention to what happens next. Many of you will be navigating
difficult conversations to help them understand the world we live in. The MTEA is dedicated to
supporting educators in their work teaching tolerance, participation, and acceptance. We will work
even harder to create safe and caring learning environments for all learners to create the schools
our students deserve.
In solidarity,
Kim Schroeder
MTEA President