I’m not going to lie to you. You’re grown-ups, after all. And if you care about women, immigrants, African-Americans; if you care about the Constitution, freedom of the press, the Geneva Conventions; if you care about the menace posed by white supremacists, anti-Semites, and Vladimir Putin; if you care about America’s place in the world, family values, tax fairness; if you care about humanity, temperament, honesty; if you care whether the leader of the free world has a basic understanding of how government works; a willingness to learn anything, or actual, specific policies of any kind, what happened on Tuesday night is terrifying.

I lied to my son Wednesday morning. I told him it was OK that Donald Trump had won the election, that nothing would change, really.


My son has known only Barack Obama as president. The fact that the president is black is utterly unremarkable to him. And it looked like that dignified, thoughtful, measured president would be succeeded by another groundbreaker, the wildly competent and astoundingly well-qualified Hillary Clinton. No big deal, my son would see: The president of the United States is a woman.

Most all of us thought this was going to happen going into Tuesday night, even many of those who supported Trump. I wept as I cast my ballot for Clinton, because I thought I was helping to usher in a new world, one that would show our daughters, and our sons, that the possibilities for women are limitless.

Before it began to fall away, I started a column on the milestone:

“If you’re a woman, or someone who cares about them, this is a groundbreaking, historic, inspiring moment — no matter your party,” it was going to say. “Ninety-six years after our half of the population won the right to vote, Hillary Clinton’s victory speaks to the great progress we’ve made in this country.


“But, in the case of this particular woman, and this crazy, ugly presidential race, it also speaks to how very far we’ve yet to go.

It turned out I was half-right.

In the days leading up to the election, early voters I talked to expressed similar sentiments, seeing in Clinton’s ascendancy an antidote to the slights and wrongs women had suffered, that they had suffered themselves.

“Growing up, people were always telling me, ‘Oh, you have to smile, dear,’ ” said Cynthia Scott, 76, of Beacon Hill. “It was so patronizing. They’ll see [Hillary] can do the job. She’ll make a difference.”

Jane Owens, 63, thought there would be parties in her South End neighborhood when Clinton won. “The three major powers will have women leaders,” she said. “Three women against Putin, imagine that!”

“Oh my God, at last,” said Arlene Freed, 70, of the North End. “I am so excited to see a woman in the White House. I thought I would never see it. If she loses, it’s because this country is so misogynistic.”

She lost. And we have to recognize that yes, some of the people who voted for Trump are misogynistic themselves, or fine with that dismal side of him. They either hold views themselves that are racist, anti-Semitic, and bigoted, or they’re fine with backing someone with those views, which amounts to the same thing. Some of these voters — mostly white — feel the nation left them behind, and some of them are angry. And they were willing to throw the rest of us under the bus to follow a man whose words and deeds give the lie to all of the promises he made to win their support.


I started hearing from some of them as Trump’s stunning upset came clear on Tuesday night, sore winners taunting me, menacing me. Whatever else it may do, don’t kid yourself that Trump’s ascendancy will make the hate and anger go away.

So where do we go from here?

Hillary Clinton laid out a path in her generous concession speech on Wednesday morning.

“And to all the women, and especially the young women, who put their faith in this campaign and in me: I want you to know that nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion,” she said. “And to all of 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.”

It was as graceful a speech as she has ever given, a glimpse into the calm and maturity we might have had in her as a president. She urged us to move beyond the hate, and toward a more perfect union. In doing so, she made her loss feel even more gut-wrenching, more total, and even more our own.

Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham can be reached at yvonne.abraham@globe.com.Follow her on twitter @GlobeAbraham.