An immigrant mother struggles to explain election result to her daughters

Many Americans had trouble going to bed Wednesday night. Some were jubilant, others were anxious. In the Rhor household in Houston, Texas, Monica was thinking about what to say to her two young daughters. 

She asked me how the people who smile at us in the stores could vote for somebody who says such mean things. And I had no answer for her at that moment.- Monica Rhor

Rhor is a high school teacher and journalist. She is also a Latina immigrant. Her girls are seven and eight years old. They live in a neighbourhood mainly surrounded by people who voted for Donald Trump. 

Here's part of Carol Off's interview with Monica Rhor: 

Carol Off: Monica, what were you hoping for when you sat down to watch the election results last night?

Monica Rhor: Well, I had been planning to watch a historic event with my daughters. I had actually been asked to write something about the possibility of the first female president. So I had positioned my two daughters in front of the TV and was going to watch the election through their eyes and it quickly turned to something entirely different.

CO: How did they respond to what they saw and heard last night?  

MR: They're both bright little girls and they're the daughters of two journalists, so they have been very aware of the election and what's been going on during the last year and a half. And my one daughter turned to me and she asked me how the people who smile at us in the stores could vote for somebody who says such mean things. And I had no answer for her at that moment.

No matter who is in the White House, no matter who sits in the Oval Office, we are part of this country. We belong here. And they can be whatever they want to be, still.- Monica Rhor

CO: What do your girls understand or what have they heard of Donald Trump and his remarks?

MR: Well, we live in a predominantly white suburb of Houston. And my daughters are both African-American. I'm Latina and my husband is African-American. They've heard some of the remarks [Trump] has made over the campaign about immigrants and people of colour.

CO: Your girls are eight and seven. Their lives have spanned the Obama presidency. So now you're to see Mr. Obama hand the keys to the White House over to Donald Trump?

MR: My daughters are able to see a reflection of themselves in the first family. And that has given them such a sense of pride, a sense of what they can aspire to — that anything's possible for them. I hope that we can still remind them that nothing can stop them and that's what I was trying to tell them. No matter who is in the White House, no matter who sits in the Oval Office, we are part of this country. We belong here. And they can be whatever they want to be, still.

For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Monica Rhor and read her piece in the Houston Chronicle here.