Culture

Hillary Clinton’s Concession Speech Was A Sad Rallying Call To Women And Oppressed Minorities

"To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful."

by Meg Watson  10 November 2016

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It’s hard to know what to say on a day like this. That is partly because of shock. It’s partly because that shock is informed by the fact I’m a “woke white person” who has the privilege of feeling shocked by this at all. It’s also because I’m safely — if you can call it that — on the other side of the world to what’s unfolding in the US.

What can you say that would actually help the American Muslim women afraid to wear their hijabs today or the migrant families who heard white men screaming “build a wall” on the streets of New York?

But our lack of words is nothing compared to what Hillary Clinton must have faced in the past 12 hours. After sending her supporters home without a concession speech last night, this morning Clinton had to publicly face up to the unprecedented and frightening aftermath of her unsuccessful bid for the presidency. She has delivered an address to those who backed her, visibly upset, calling for unity.

“This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and I am sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country,” she said. “But I want you to remember this: our campaign was never about one person or even one election. It was about the country we love and about building an America that’s hopeful, inclusive and bighearted.”

For many, they are hard words to hear. How hopeful can you be about inclusivity, when the majority of the nation has supported a campaign openly based on fear and division?

Clinton repeatedly described the campaign as “one of the greatest honours of [her] life” and emphasised the importance of a graceful defeat for the sake of constitutional democracy.

“This is painful, and it will be for a long time,” she said. “We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought, but I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”

But the most devastating and crucial parts of her speech may be those which spoke directly to the marginalised groups she’s previously tried to champion or protect:

“We’ve spent a year and a half bringing together millions of people from every corner of our country to say with one voice that we believe that the American dream is big enough for everyone — for people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people and people with disabilities, for everyone.

“So, now our responsibility as citizens is to keep doing our part to build that better, stronger, fairer America we see, and I know you will. I am so grateful to stand with all of you…

“Now, I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday, someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now. And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

That last point has since been tweeted separately through Clinton’s Twitter account and is quickly becoming iconic. This election has truly been a crushing blow for many women and these words speak to the intense frustration and familiarity that comes with Clinton’s loss. The sight of an incredibly qualified woman losing out to a spectacularly incompetent man is one many know well.

But with white women proving one of the major sources of support for Trump in the final vote count, it’s worth keeping all Clinton’s remarks in mind. This election has had (and will have) devastating effects for a number of communities. It’s less accurate to say this is a loss for women, than it is to call it a victory for white men — the kind of unsympathetic white men who led the America that Trump thought was “great”.

If you’d like to know how to best use your words today, sending love and support to people who don’t fit that mould could be a good place to start. As Clinton suggests, they’ll need strength for whatever comes next.