DID you know that November 16 is the “International Day of Tolerance”? This year, more than ever before, let’s make sure we celebrate.

True, the world is a mess. Things were bad enough before Nov 9 but for many of us Donald Trump’s election victory has made the world a darker and more dangerous place.

We are right to worry. During his election campaign, Trump skilfully unleashed the demons of racism and mainstreamed hate. His unbearable toxic rhetoric is echoed by many in Europe.

The US election campaign represented a fierce battle between a vision of an evolving America that embraces pluralism, tolerance, inclusion, and cultural change — and one that fears all of the above.

With Trump in the White House, Vladimir Putin in Moscow and others like Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, tough-talking “strongmen” are in the spotlight.

Riding on a populist and anti-globalisation wave, Britain has already voted to leave the European Union. British Prime Minister Theresa May is still not sure just when she will start formal negotiations for exiting the EU. But her band of Brexiteers continues to berate and denounce the EU.

Meanwhile, far right leaders like Marine Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party are giving mainstream political parties a run for their money. In Hungary, Islamophobic Viktor Orban is already in power.

Like Trump, Europe’s far right leaders embrace intolerance, bigotry, ethno-nationalism, and white identity politics. So yes indeed let’s mourn the assault on the liberal world order, the victory of hate over love, the triumph of war-mongering over peace.

But even as we try and decipher the myriad reasons for Trump’s success, it’s important to remember that millions of people did not vote for him and still believe in an open and tolerant society. They should not be forgotten.

Yes, Trump successfully woke up the demons of racism, xenophobia and hate — just as the far right leaders are doing in Europe — but those who reject the nightmare version of a new world order cannot be shunted to the sidelines.

Many took to the streets in the US to protest Trump’s victory. Once the anger dies down, their voice and actions will be crucial if the world is not to slip into an abyss.

In an ideal world, Europeans should be able to step in to stop the downward slide.

EU foreign ministers are to meet in Brussels on Nov 13 for an informal dinner to exchange views on the way forward in EU-US relations after Trump’s election success.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier requested the talks after warning that US relations would be “harder” and “less predictable” than in the past and adding that the US campaign had left “deep scars”.

“Demagogic populism is not only a problem in America,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Bilddaily. “Elsewhere in the West, too, the political debate is in an alarming state.”

Taking a more diplomatic line, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, the EU Council president, have said they want to strengthen transatlantic relations to deal with “unprecedented challenges such as Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the militant Islamic State group], the threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, climate change and migration”.

Both men have invited Trump to visit Europe for an EU-US summit as soon as possible, saying “this conversation would allow us to chart the course of our relations for the next four years”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also sent a message of congratulations to Trump — but one which spotlighted elements of liberal democracy that form the basis of the American-European relations.

“Germany and America are bound by their values: democracy, freedom, the respect for the law and the dignity of human beings, independent of their origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political position,” Merkel said. “On the basis of these values I offer the future president of the United States, Donald Trump, close cooperation.”

Which brings us to the “International Day for Tolerance”, decreed by the UN in 1996 “as a time for people to learn about respecting and recognising the rights and beliefs of others”.

The idea is to encourage debates and discussions across the world on how injustice, oppression, racism and unfair discrimination have a negative impact on society.

As the world comes to terms with Donald Trump in the White House, it is important to remember that many across the US and in the world still believe that people of different races, colour and religions can live in peace and harmony.

On Nov 16, let’s prove the bigots and the hate-mongers wrong and celebrate openness and tolerance.

—The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Brussels

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2016