Jackson Free Press

If you weren't engaged in the great American democratic process before Nov. 8, we ask that you get engaged now.

This presidential election came with a lot of historical firsts, many of which we cannot stand by and idly accept as normal.

This was not a normal election on several counts, and at least in the states that chose Trump in the electoral college, like ours, that's what those states' voters wanted, even as the majority of voters didn't. (Hillary Clinton continues to lead the popular vote count, and at press time, she was close to having 1 million more votes than Donald Trump.) The abnormality of this election cannot and should not fade quickly from the public's memory.

The next U.S. president is facing up to 75 lawsuits as he moves into the White House. Some of those lawsuits concern Trump University, the now-defunct real-estate program shrouded in accusations of fraud and scam. Other lawsuits are more troublesome. There are at least 20 lawsuits that name Trump or his companies for mistreating women in the workplace: charges from discrimination based on gender to sexual-harassment claims.

Beyond the courthouse, Trump has had to work to fend off attachment to white nationalist groups, including the KKK, whose newspaper endorsed the candidate for president. While the Trump campaign denounced the endorsement, it did not hesitate to hire Steve Bannon, a white-nationalist hero who draws praise from neo-Nazi groups and who Bloomberg Business called the "Most Dangerous Political Operative in America" in a 2015 feature, as his chief strategist.

Election-related hate crimes have spiked across the country, and in Mississippi, as well as #NotMyPresident protests drawing attention to his controversial promises. The protests, when peaceful as most are, are a vital part of democracy. Hate speech and creating a culture of fear are not. In the midst of such a divided nation, it is now more crucial than ever before to stand up for one another. If you see or hear sexist, classist, racist or any discriminatory speech, it is your duty as an American and a citizen to say something. We live in a free democracy with freedom of speech, including to talk back. Besides, the normalization of hatred and fear is, at least in part, how we got to be a divided nation.

Protest signs or Facebook posts are not enough. Democracy requires active engagement, and this election needs to serve as a wake-up call to Mississippians on all sides of the political aisle. Now more than ever is the time to educate yourself and those you surround yourself with about democracy, how Congress works and how the Mississippi Legislature works. Changes are happening at the federal level for health care, taxation and immigration that can and will affect our state from the top down.

It is our job as Americans and Mississippians to stay engaged in the political process, voting for elected officials again in two years and educating those around you. Democracy is messy and imperfect, but it's up to us to stay vigilant and fight for our voices to be heard, especially in the next four years.