This article was originally published in the Durham VOICE.

by Mila Mascenik

Durham residents who voted for Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and third-party candidates Chase Oliver and Jill Stein answer a question that garnered various answers: What will it take to make us a better nation?

One of my favorite parts about being a journalist is having the opportunity to hear diverse viewpoints and share them with audiences. After the presidential election, I believe having an open mind and willingness to listen to individuals whose beliefs differ from our own is particularly important as our country contemplates what’s next. I asked Durham residents who voted for Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and third-party candidates Chase Oliver and Jill Stein a question that garnered various answers: What will it take to make us a better nation? 

Note: The VOICE acknowledges there are many other perspectives we have yet to report on, and we hope to include them in future pieces.

Lucy Genda, 24, works in marketing for a home-building company. She voted for Kamala Harris, and her top three issues in this presidential election were marriage equality, the Israel-Palestine War and an economy that benefits the majority of Americans, not just the top 1%. Something she is looking forward to in the 2028 presidential election is Donald Trump not being able to run again. 

Mascenik: Following this presidential election, what will it take to make us a better nation?

Genda: “I feel like this is kind of beating a dead horse, but unity and, honestly, education. I feel like a lot of people have come out on social media about their perspectives from this election and how they chose to vote, who they voted for, and I’m seeing that there is a lack of education for American citizens or just anyone voting, like they’re not aware of what’s going on. They don’t know the issues that are really on the ballot. And there are a lot of people that, when they get into that voting booth, they don’t really know who’s running for what, they just vote party. They don’t really know what their politics are, how they’re going to affect people.”

Dawn Paige, 60, is the president of Concerned Black Americans Citizens, Inc., a nonprofit organization that advocates for rebuilding the Black American family and lineage-based reparations. She voted for Donald Trump, and her top three issues in this presidential election were reparations, specifically lineage-based direct cash payments and policies, immigration and American cultural values, such as marriage and children. She hopes the 2028 presidential election is more policy-driven.

Mascenik: Following this presidential election, what will it take to make us a better nation?

Paige: “I think it takes putting the American or Americans first, and there’s nothing more American first than paying the reparations that are owned to your oldest, most loyal population of patriots and citizens, and that is Black Americans descended from Negro freedmen. And we need to acknowledge the special class, political status of these descendants, of these freedmen, and that our Constitution, not only the Reconstruction Acts, but the Civil Rights Act of 1866, says specifically we are to eliminate the badges and vestiges of slavery. But when we look at all of the disparity studies today, the gaps in wealth, education, health, we see that the country has failed.”

Sean Haugh, 64, is the vice chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. He voted for Chase Oliver, the Libertarian party’s presidential candidate. Haugh said three issues the Libertarian party campaigns on are reducing the size and scope of government, the economy, and, in his campaign, the legalization of marijuana. He said the North Carolina Libertarian Party will concentrate on local elections next year, such as town councils.

Mascenik: Following this presidential election, what will it take to make us a better nation?

Haugh: “One issue we also really campaign a lot on at the national level, but on all levels, is to stop war, and I ran for US Senate in 2014 and 2016 on the theme of stop all war, not just foreign wars, but also culture war. Now, everywhere where people are at war with each other, whether it’s literal or metaphorical war. Right now, the political environment is just so incredibly toxic because people are being really hateful to each other and really polarized in their own little camps. So that’s something that a lot of our candidates talk about is how we can move past all that and actually recognize that every single person in the country has the same rights and the same ability to live freely and in peace.”

Asiyah Mikell, 38, is a physician. She voted for Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate. Her top three issues were women’s rights, the national debt and how the country socially addresses domestic and international inequalities, like the Israel-Palestine War. She said she would like to see candidates care more about improving healthcare for Americans in the 2028 presidential election.  

Mascenik: Following this presidential election, what will it take to make us a better nation? 

Mikell: “I think if we could change out the political system, if we could get into a place where politics was not completely funded by huge interest groups, and there had to be significant transparency potentially and politicians who really, genuinely had the interest of America and Americans at the heart of their decision I think ‘yeah, we could be a great country.’ But I don’t know that that’s going to happen anytime soon, I don’t see a lot of positivity towards that or work towards that.”  

Meet the Author

Mila Mascenik is a senior double-majoring in Journalism and English at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has been published in INDY Week, Chapel Hill Magazine, Durham Magazine, The Chatham News + Record, The Wake Weekly and The Daily Tar Heel. Passionate about journalism, she values the opportunity to tell stories that uplift communities and bring attention to the voices within them." 

The Durham VOICE

The Durham VOICE an online student publication produced out of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media's "Community Journalism" class led by Assistant Professor at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, Carl W. Kenney II.