It never fails. Someone will post on social media that, in 2016, 53% of white women voted for Donald Trump. They’ll note that, for Vice President Kamala Harris to win, white women — the nation’s largest voting bloc — cannot vote for Trump again.

And on every post, a white woman — or four, or 10 — will pipe up, “Well, I voted for Clinton,” or, “Not all white women!”

Ma’am.

That’s not the point, and it’s not where we need to focus our energy. Of course I appreciate that you voted against the danger that is Trump. Thank you for doing the right thing. But it’s also the easiest, most basic thing.

Voting for the candidate who will preserve democracy doesn’t warrant recognition, and it definitely doesn’t let us off the hook. As much as people blame Trump for the mess our country is in, a number of America’s problems are as old as America itself.

And they’re problems white women have helped perpetuate.

For decades, white women have voted more Republican than Democratic. Women like the ones who get defensive on social media don’t see our responsibility in this. Those of us who’ve always voted for Democrats feel absolved from the damage our demographic has caused. We take our vote seriously. We’re proud to use our voice in this way.

We also fail to recognize how much bigger our impact could be if we did more than vote. Because as sacred as voting is, white women owe America far more than that. Especially when, not even a decade ago, more than half of us chose Donald Trump over a fellow white woman.

In an election season when Black women organized, mobilized, and fundraised to elect Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, I criticized Trump on Facebook. I wrote lesson plans analyzing the language of both candidates to teach my lovelies, the students in my high school English classes. I commiserated with loved ones about how atrocious Trump was and how unfairly Clinton was being treated.

But I didn’t do anything, besides vote, to ensure she would win.

That Election Day, my grandma’s 87th birthday, I cast my ballot with tears in my eyes. Grateful my grandma was able to finally vote for a woman for president. Hopeful that this would be the first time of many that I would.

Later, waking up in the middle of the night to the news that Trump had won, I posted on Facebook, “White People Who Know Better: it’s really on us now. Let’s use our privilege for good.”

As if I hadn’t had the opportunity and obligation to do so prior to Trump being elected. I could — should — have used my ample social capital to talk to other white women, the persuadable ones who might have voted for Clinton after all. It astonished me that so many white women voted for someone who so overtly disrespects and harms women. It discouraged me that most of us still act against the interests of people who don’t look like us.

But I hadn’t taken a single meaningful step to get any of them to change their mind. My understanding of the scope of my responsibility was too narrow, and America paid the price because far too many white women made this same mistake.

It’s taken me longer than it should, but I finally understand that I owe my country more than my single vote. I owe it my time and effort to impact other voters, accumulating as many votes as possible for the ticket that will help, not harm, as many of us as possible.

This spring was my first time volunteering at the polls. This summer, my first time organizing. This fall, my first time writing letters to voters. Our choices this election are an accused rapist and a misogynist, or our current (and qualified!) vice president and a favorite teacher.

When I vote for Harris and Walz next Tuesday, I’ll do so with pride. I’ll probably do so with tears in my eyes. And I’ll do so knowing that, this election, I contributed more than my ballot. This time, unlike the others before, I didn’t grossly mismanage the potential of my impact.

Thank you, fellow white women who’ve already voted for Harris and Walz. Who will in the coming days. Thank you to those of you for whom there was never any other choice. Thank you to those of you who deliberated and ultimately decided the Harris/Walz ticket is the one America needs.

And, please remember: Your vote is not, and never has been, enough.

Even if we’re spared the nightmare that would be a second Trump presidency, there is so much work left to be done. America needs us to do the right thing, and we’re already overdue.