We are already seeing the rationalizing of how we got here and the blaming of the political party that, though flawed, actually reflects multiracial democracy. We must resist this. Voters knew exactly who Trump was and chose him anyway. This is not about the so-called excesses of the left. As the NYT editorial board writes, Trump ran the "most racist, sexist, and xenophobic campaign in modern history." As NYT reporter Lisa Lerer wrote today, "This was a conquering of the nation not by force but with a permission slip. Now, America stands on the precipice of an authoritarian style of governance never before seen in its 248-year history." This is the unsparing truth that we must confront.

It was naive to believe that if Kamala Harris avoided discussing her race and gender, that if she evaded so-called identity politics, that she would nullify the liability of being a Black woman seeking the presidency in a country where racism and misogyny are embedded in the culture. This is a country that responded to a multiracial electorate sending the first Black president to the White House with a *minority* of the white vote by electing an openly white racist man over the person who could have become the nation's first woman president.