The past year, and the past three months in particular, have been an incredibly interesting time to be both a historian and a Christian in this country. Now I will not pretend to be without bias, I am deeply concerned by a president who happily accepts comparisons to Andrew Jackson, blatantly denigrates our judicial system, refers to the media as the “opposition party,” restructures commonly held facts to fit his narrative and eliminates any internal dissidents. These are all hallmark traits of authoritarian rule, and believe me I do not use that word here flippantly. Yet while I could use this space to argue for why our current situation is likely to push our constitutional foundations to their breaking point, I am not naive enough to believe that a well-worded op-ed will change anyone’s mind. Instead I want to speak to those who agreed with all I have written so far and are wondering where we can possibly go from here.

Several weeks ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was invoked as a reason for all of us to just slow down and love each other. To be clear this is a not an accurate representation of the complete person of Dr. King, nor is it fair to use his legacy in such a way. Yet there is a bit of truth that we who resist can glean from Dr. King’s message of love in his reluctance to broadly label those with whom he disagreed. When we generally disparage those who voted for Trump we make it infinitely harder to get those individuals to understand the perspective from which we see the world. It is in this vein that Dr. King’s statement that only love can drive out hate is applicable, if we want to be people who truly love to a radical degree, we must be willing to love those who we see as the oppressors as well as those who are oppressed.

Dr. King’s message of love, however, was not a passive acceptance and silence regarding situations seen as unjust. He spoke freely of his grave disappointment with the “white moderate” in a letter he wrote from a jail cell after he was arrested for breaking a law he saw as unjust, which he argued is a person’s moral responsibility. This same letter was a direct response to eight white clergymen and their “call for unity,” which would have preserved the status quo of discrimination and oppression. Dr. King knew that simple disagreement was not enough; he was willing to take a controversial stand. But when he did that he did not do so in anger or demonizations, even though that was the way many acted in response to him. Rather he refers to the people with whom he disagrees as “fellow clergymen,” emphasizing the things they have in common before moving on to discuss the key places where they are opposed and taking the stand he needs to take.

So where does this leave us, we who see many parallels between the fight of Dr. King and the fight of today’s politics? This does not mean that we should simply be silent on injustice, far from it. The types of injustice that many of our brothers and sisters are currently facing or may face in the future as a result of this administration’s decisions regarding housing and urban development, health and human services, education, and more are real and must be combatted with all we have. But if we desire systemic change we cannot do this in a way which alienates more people, that’s what got us into our current predicament. There is a distinct difference between calling certain actions, policies and systems racist and labeling people as racist. Labeling individuals and groups who you do not know well as racist (even if it is true) shuts the door on conversation and then we do not help those who are affected by that racism. So talk in person with someone you disagree with. Form friendships, show interest in their life and learn to care about them. Then you can breach the uncomfortable topics and talk about what you believe in, seeking common ground and a new perspective on the fight against injustice.

I understand that I write this from a position of privilege — there are many discriminatory systems and people which I will never have to face and therefore have a much easier time not responding in anger. But if we truly want to create systemic change which respects the humanity of all people, we must find it in us to humanize those with whom we disagree. We must continue to go high, no matter how low this administration may go. We are strongest when we fight together. Though this won’t always be possible, we must give it our best shot; not in spite of the people who are being oppressed, but because of them.