November 9th, 2016.
I did my part, I voted, and now I have to face the reality.
Not just the reality that Donald Trump will be our president in two short months, but the reality that the American people voted him there. I can’t argue with the numbers, which signify that there is indeed a silent majority that resonates with Trump’s angry words, with his prejudiced lies and hateful actions.
My heart is grappling with how to accept the people who put him in power, who are accepting his misogyny and xenophobia and outright bullying. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but the ideology of Donald Trump seems to point otherwise. Some of my closest friends are die-hard Trump supporters, and I am trying really, really hard to respect their choice. It’s difficult.
They made the choice to elect someone who admitted to sexual assault literally two weeks ago. They are passive with a man who states he wants to ban Muslims from entering the country, a clear violation of the Constitution. They brush aside name-calling and defamation of entire people groups, generalizing “the” blacks and “the” Muslims as if they’re all the same.
But I get it, the American people are tired of the establishment. They’re tired of corrupt politicians, and people who say they will accomplish things but never do; they’re tired of the dollars being leeched out of their wallet to pay for some lazy destitute, tired of the radicals entering our country and the illegals taking our jobs. I understand these feelings of frustration, because this country is ours, not theirs, and we must make America great once more.
But what is this slogan? If anything, Trump has manipulated the country into believing there is an “us” and a “them”. Who are we trying to take this country back from – the immigrants? We were all immigrants at one point or another, but the general population seems to have forgotten this fact. And exactly what time period was America particularly great, in which Donald claims to want to emulate such prestige? Surely it couldn’t be when only men could vote, so people who had blood coming out of their wherever wouldn’t make poor presidential choices. Of course it couldn’t be when the government ordained a law literally banning an ethnic group for sixty years. But, after all, these are the good old days that Trump inadvertently reminisces upon.
I know that the majority that voted for Donald Trump do not agree with everything he has said. But what is frightening is that people’s hatred of Hillary and Obama’s legacy and progressiveness has fueled the way for a man to enter office with a platform based on racism. What is frightening is that people seem willing to tolerate Trump’s intolerance, because they themselves are afraid of what is happening right now.
But guess what, Donald. Even though your supporters buy into your propaganda; though they have been goaded by you into this fear of what doesn’t look quite like them; though your hateful words have made it appear acceptable to be prejudiced: you started a ball rolling. What’s happening right now is globalization, and multiculturalism, and inclusion. People are afraid for this country and their own lives, but at some point the higher intellectual realizes that this world is bigger than just us. At some point, the people will realize it is not always about your own life. You may have won the aging white male vote, but this election has taught the millennials, who are the rising generation of America, that we need to step it up. We have learned that bigotry runs far deeper than our textbooks spoke of, and that if we are going to make any progress, we will have to plant our heels in the ground and stand firm in our values. We have learned that our values must always include tolerance, love, and respect.
So yes, Donald Trump will be our next president. But it is not in his hands, nor his authority, to make America great. This is not just a matter of Democrats or Republicans – Trump has awakened an activism in everyone. The repercussions of his lies are greater than just general fear; he has shown the rising leaders of the world that indeed, America is not where it could be, and indeed, dire change is needed. Whether this change will lead to a brighter future, for not only the working class but the minorities and the powerless as well, that is a question that is directly dependent upon the actions of this generation. So God help us, I hope we make those actions count.