What Has Trump Unleashed (Redux)?

Yesterday I wrote about two friends from church who witnessed an altercation between two guys where one (who was white) yelled at the other (who was Asian), " "When Trump gets into office, your outta here!" ("What Has Trump Unleashed?"). This morning we arrived at church and discovered that during the night, someone had slashed our (i.e., the church's) "God is still speaking" rainbow banner, which hangs at the front of our church. I assume that it was slashed because the banner indicates that we're an open and affirming congregation, and some find that intolerable, so much so, that they believe vandalism is warranted.

When I heard what happened, I once again couldn't help wonder what this election has unleashed. We certainly are not the only faith community that has been targeted. Here in San Jose a local Islamic center received a letter that referred to its members as "vile and filthy people" and "children of Satan" and warned that Trump would do to them “what Hitler did to the Jews.” Evidently, the same letter was also sent to two mosques in Southern California ("Islamic Center Target of Hate-Filled Letter"). As I noted yesterday, it appears that some see the election of Trump as giving them a license to express their bigotry. It may be too late to change the results of the election, but it isn't too late for the rest of us (and we are in majority) to stand up to this kind of hate.