Yo, Miss! (No. 19)

Pushing For Progress Takes Time

Today a Manhattan jury found former President Donald J. Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll. The jury awarded her $5 million in damages.

After more than a dozen women have previously accused Trump of sexual misconduct, this is the only allegation - so far - affirmed by a jury.

More details from The New York Times here:

In the civil case, the federal jury of six men and three women found that Ms. Carroll, 79, a former magazine writer, had sufficiently proved that Mr. Trump sexually abused her nearly 30 years ago in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. The jury did not, however, find he had raped her, as she had long claimed.

As someone who teaches history, the lesson from today is that movements toward progress take time. Therefore, we need to keep pushing even when it all feels futile. The jury decision today not only vindicates E. Jean Carroll but it also serves as a possible turning point in how the legal system can work in favor of sexual assault and rape victims in America. When we teach about the Trump years, the 2017 #MeToo movement (although it first began with Tarana Burke in 2006) is inextricably linked to his presidency. When the Access Hollywood tape came out with Trump gleefully bragging about how he sexual assaults women, it unfortunately did not cost him the election. However, his win activated women to rise up against him and other abusive men in America, including Harvey Weinstein.

I saw it with my own students. Aside from teaching U.S. History, I advise the Feminist Eagles, the intersectional feminist club founded in 2015 at my school. I have written about our club here and here as well. I watched the club members become angered yet emboldened to take action after a misogynist like Trump ascended to the Presidency.

Feminist Eagles, 2017

Art Created by The Feminist Eagles (March 2020)

However, I also sat with the Feminist Eagles at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year to process the grave consequences of Trump’s time in office: the Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade. My students were already burnt out after spending years learning from home thanks to the global pandemic. However, I worry that the daily onslaught of challenging news about gun violence, Republican attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, and the stripping away of reproductive rights is taking a toll on their mental health and drive to keep pushing forward. So, I look forward to sharing this bit of good news with them about E. Jean Carroll’s win when we meet on Thursday.

New York Magazine (June 24-July 7, 2019) cover

So, I want to thank E. Jean Carroll for her bravery, tenacity, and strength. Trump is the epitome of toxic masculinity and it is so gratifying to see him be held accountable for the first time in his life for his hideous and criminal treatment of women.

To be a woman in this world is to feel inherently unsafe, especially for marginalized women. Thanks to the hell that Trump wrought whilst in office from his overall “grab her by the pu$$y” bravado to his Supreme Court nominees that have stripped away our rights to his overall MAGA movement that has empowered misogynistic creeps and criminals, we are increasingly less safe.

I hope for a day when we can ALL feel more protected in America. Brave acts - like standing up to monstrous men like Trump - are a start and will absolutely inspire many of my students to keep pushing forward for change, even when it feels as though progress is out of reach.

@saribethroseKARMA #trump #MAGA #GOP #politics

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