In the wake of the presidential election, some Warwick residents feel slighted by the xenophobic, racist and downright rude behavior stemming from President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign. They have created Resist Hate RI, a grassroots coalition that is part of a larger constituency of disgruntled Rhode Island residents who have begun to signal contempt for right-wing legislative agendas and the potential repealing of executive orders enacted by President Barack Obama.

Progressives from the newly formed incubation group – spawned in part due to social media – met at the Warwick Public Library Tuesday night to hear from local officials and community organizers for the first of many gatherings to come.

“Someone asked me, ‘what is hate?’” said Sen.-elect District 30 Jeanine Calkin (D-Warwick) addressing the 50 progressives attending the meeting.

“It is hard to define, but I think we all know it when we see it or when we feel it,” said Calkin.

The online group – now made up of over 3,900 Facebook followers – was established following the election as a result of an emergency meeting in Providence at Hope High School on Saturday, Nov. 12 by State Rep. Aaron Regunberg (D-Providence).

Resist Hate RI’s website reads: “With Trump taking over the federal government, our state’s elected officials need to step up. It’s time for leaders in state government to issue a firm commitment to use every tool at the state’s disposal to resist the Trump agenda by protecting immigrant communities, defending reproductive rights, supporting working families and continuing climate action.”

Calkin, a Bernie Sanders fan, is a fervent believer in protecting Rhode Islanders from potential legislation that would rollback progress, such as overturning Roe v. Wade and a Muslim registry.

“We’re not going to stand for people of color or different ethnicities being treated worse than other people,” she said. “We are not going to stand for Swastikas and things like that being drawn in our schools.”

Jennifer Siciliano, moderator of the meeting and spokesperson of the Warwick Progressive Democrats, addressed concerned residents at the onset of the meeting.

“A lot of people have been feeling a little scared and powerless,” said Siciliano. “We hope this meeting provides an outlet for action.”

Initially, Siciliano summed up what the format for the almost two-hour meeting would entail, explaining that there would be several speakers followed by discussion groups.

One of the community organizers spoke on behalf of RI Working Families Party, a progressive political organization working to motivate the federal delegation to help working families.

Georgia Hollister Isman, state director of Working Families, said, “There are a whole bunch of these local meetings happening all over the state.” 

Isman says some of the issues Working Families is fighting for include protecting undocumented immigrants, providing health care for low-income residents and passing a bill that would raise Rhode Island’s income tax. 

“There’s been a lot of talk about waiting and seeing,” said Isman. “So, we’re trying to send a message in a very clear way.”

 While Resist Hate RI isn’t an officially structured organization yet, some of the members of the group feel it should be.

 “It’s really a group of individuals, including some that are closely linked to organizations,” said Isman.

Following words of warning from several other speakers, people divided into discussion groups to deliberate about questions posed on handouts in regard to resisting hate rhetoric and actions observed during and after the presidential election.

Siciliano stressed the importance of specified ground rules for the discussion, which included courtesy and respect; being a good listener, even when disagreeing with someone else; sharing opinions; engaging in honest conversation; having an open mind and asking questions.

The results from the group discussions were mixed, but most people felt that they wanted the Resist Hate RI group to be a “repository” for a myriad of different organizations to connect progressives to current affairs such as economic justice issues and protection of civil rights.

“We all seem to be here for the same reason,” said Wayne Wohlschlegel, speaking on behalf of his discussion group.  “Most of us are feeling really shocked and angry and hurt and confused and powerless by the election.”