Dear Editor,

A day ago the world waited with bated breath — some with anxious hand wringing, others deeply engaged in spiritual warfare — to see who would emerge as the American commander-in-chief.

Donald J Trump is now the 47th president of the United States, and the resulting emotions range from elation to unsurprised dissatisfaction and even despair. As with every tale, there is a moral to be gleaned, and a few Jamaican-isms come to mind that help contextualise the recent happenings on yonder shores.

1) “As dem sneeze, we ketch cold.”

It was clear that Jamaicans were fully tuned in to the US electoral process. Jamaicans form a large percentage of the US immigrant population, but this could not be the only reason for our piqued interest. The Jamaican Diaspora is also quite formidable in the UK and Canada, but many know Canada’s Justin Trudeau for his looks and not his politics, others are still wondering what happened to the UK’s Rishi Sunak, and even closer to home, can’t remember the name of their local Member of Parliament (MP).

The answer lies in the unofficial title held by the one emerging as victor every quadrennium — “the leader of the free world”. The Americans not only dictate fashion and pop culture to the world, they lead it, as hard a pill as that is to swallow. Their reality inevitably will become ours. When things are good there, they’re good here. We know all too well that the inverse is equally true.

One could argue, then, that we were tuned in to an election that will determine if the next four years will find us congested from the catarrh of international melees and poverty or easily inhaling prosperity’s sweet perfume.

2) “A nuh every skin teet a laugh.”

Many are quite confused about the results, not because the idea of Trump winning was unfathomable, but because the media, both in traditional and social forms, painted a picture in which Vice-President Kamala Harris not only captured the popular vote but led in some of the pre-election polls.

Before pointing fingers at the media, I believe we also need to consider that there were many who, in fear of being viewed as anti-politically correct or worse, labelled as conservatives, publicly claimed to support Harris but in the secrecy afforded by the election ballot cast their lot with those in red.

It seems, then, that our grandparents were right all along; not everyone smiling to your face is smiling with you in their hearts.

3) “Puss and dawg nug hab di same luck”

The world has seen a man with countless felony charges, a conviction, and other unsavoury incidents dotting his past claim victory not once, but twice, over women who, considering their political achievements and cleaner police records, would have been traditional shoe-ins for the US’s highest office.

Trump has contested the presidency thrice; however, his only wins have been against women — Hillary Clinton and Harris. Running for the office of president of the United States would be only a laughable dream had it been Clinton or Harris accused of sexual harassment.

Let us remember that the outgoing president, Joe Biden, has the same political affiliations and espoused many of the same campaign manifestos as Clinton and Harris. One is then tempted to ask if America prefers a man — any man — over a woman.

Gender aside, former President Barack Obama’s paternal roots in Kenya were used to smear both his presidential campaigns, as if having an African father made him any less American, and thus a threat to the good functioning of the American State. Yet still, Trump, like any good Dandy Shandy player has dodged every moral and legal hindrance to his campaign and presidency. Some have all the luck, it seems.

As we look to 2025 to see what another era of American presidency may bring, let us not dwell on what should or could have been. The winner has already been announced, for better or for worse, and we can’t change what has happened. Instead, let us find the hidden lessons from the day’s happenings, and work together for a brighter future, however that may manifest.

After all, as the old Jamaicans used to say, “If a dirt, a dirt.”

Olivia Valentine

jamexican484@gmail.com