On November 5th, the United States voted to return Donald Trump to the White House as the 47th President of the United States. The results of this election have caused alarm across the nation and the world. Trump has stated publicly that if elected, he will take the following actions: deport immigrants, both legal and illegal; seek retribution against his political enemies, who he describes as “enemies from within”; and authorize the military against American protesters. His allies, many of whom served in his previous term, have developed a plan called “Project 2025,” which would change America as we know it. This radical blueprint proposes to end civil rights and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; implement a complete ban on abortions without exceptions; terminate the Affordable Care Act; eliminate unions and worker protection programs; deny Muslims from entering the United States; end African American Studies and teachings on slavery; end birthright citizenship, eliminate the Department of Education and much more.

We know that Donald Trump is a convicted felon 34 times over and has four pending indictments against him. He also has civil judgments requiring him to pay millions of dollars. With his election, his pending indictments will be dropped, his convictions erased, and his civil judgments probably dismissed. It will be as if nothing happened.

How did America make this perilous choice? We are alarmed by the fact that twenty percent of African Americans and forty percent of Latinos voted for Trump despite his past and current history of denigrating and maligning people of color. There is a developing trend in the United States where younger Blacks and Latinos are voting more for Republicans and becoming more conservative. More importantly, they argue that “we had more money in our pockets when Trump was in office.” In addition, most white women voted for Donald Trump. This election is the second time white women have failed to support a female candidate for president despite Trump’s sexist rhetoric and war on reproductive rights. The demons of sexism and racism are alive in the United States and weighed Vice President Kamala Harris’s efforts down like a millstone.

We also acknowledge the Democratic Party’s messaging as ineffective and irrelevant. Exit polls tell us that the failure to communicate the hard-fought achievements of the Biden-Harris Administration led many to believe the perception of the Democratic Party as the “party of the elites.” Trump’s rhetoric, while laced with venom and hatred, spoke directly to the needs and desires of the voters. It is telling that despite all that Trump has said about Blacks and people of color, his margins with those voters increased.

Why haven’t Democrats—who have controlled the White House for twelve of the last sixteen years and both chambers of Congress for six of those years—passed immigration legislation?
Why were plans not presented for Black and Latino men until the last ten days of the campaign?
Why did the Democrats wait until the end of the campaign to present plans to improve economics, housing, and quality of life for working and middle-class Americans? To his credit, Sen. Bernie Saunders has been calling in vain for these for the last twelve years.

These are troubling times. The nation is in crisis. Trump and the far right will control the White House, at least one chamber of Congress, and the federal Judiciary. There will be no accountability or check on his power.

What do we do? Despite our fear and trauma, the Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church calls upon our membership to remain faithful and never cease praying. God does still have the last word. But God will not do for us that we can do for ourselves. Let us now not do like the Israelites and cry to God with a spirit of powerlessness. As God said to Moses and the people of Israel, He asks us, “What’s in your hand?” We have got to use what’s in our hands. Our efforts in this election were not futile. For now, we must stop and seek God’s direction. God may be using this election and our foes to force us to turn back to Him, repent, and think. We must ask for divine intervention to order our steps in this tumultuous season through prayer. As the hymn writer states, “Father, we stretch our hands to thee, no other help we know.”

Bishop Silvester Scott Beaman, President, Council of Bishops
Bishop Wilfred Messiah, Senior Bishop
Bishop Marvin Zanders, Secretary, Council of Bishops
Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, Chair Social Action Commission
Sis. Jackie DuPont Walker, Director of Social Action Commission