When I was a young girl, I thought about how fortunate I was to live in the United States of America. I looked at the world around me and, not knowing any better, saw fortune and equality. I saw a country that I could be proud to live in because I was too privileged to notice that things were not as great as they seemed. In learning of the travesties of America's past - slavery, the Trail of Tears, gender inequality, xenophobia - I only saw the past.

But then I started to grow up, and I saw that things weren't so great after all. I learned that some people hate other people just because of who they love. I learned that a lot of people are poor and they're not really getting the help they need. I learned that women were still viewed as inferior. A peer told the class a story of how her neighbors made fun of her because she was Mexican, and I learned that racism still existed.

Yet I'll admit, it took until the election of Donald Trump for me to realize that bigotry in the country is not the exception. No, it's not the majority - Hillary Clinton won the majority vote, after all - but it is not the exception.

Maybe we don't have slaves anymore, but people of color are still being tossed behind bars and buried into the ground because of the color of their skin- which surprisingly, isn't even Donald Trump's fault.

Maybe we apologized for the Trail of Tears (in 2009, 171 years after the beginning of forced relocation), but Donald Trump's executive order advancing the Dakota Access Pipeline will contaminate the drinking water of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, as well as disrupt sacred burial sites on land that was illegally taken from them over a century ago.

Maybe we gave women the right to an abortion, but Trump reinstated the global gag rule, blocking U.S. federal funding to nongovernmental organizations that provide any sort of abortion services, from counseling to the actual procedure.

Maybe this country was built on immigration, but Trump is trying to build a wall on our border.

Maybe we're a country of religious freedom but Trump is still trying to instate a travel ban that will block people coming from Muslim-majority countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - out of fear of terrorism.

Which could potentially make sense if these people were terrorists. However, not a single person from any of those countries has committed an act of terror on United States soil since 9/11. These countries essentially pose no threat to us. People immigrating here from those countries are just searching for a better life. Even if a terrorist had come from any of these countries, the Muslim ban would still be ineffective; 94% of terrorists aren't Muslim.

The country that I adored as a little kid doesn't exist. It didn't exist then, and it certainly doesn't exist now. Our president is, after all, a reality television star who treads the line of fascism with every move. He's signed executive order after executive order, fired the Attorney General after she refused to support his travel ban, and blatantly supported the rude conduct against Senator Elizabeth Warren, even telling Democrats "Pocahontas is now the face of your party" in reference to Warren's Native American lineage. He does whatever he can to drag down those who don't support him and surrounds himself by those who share his astonishing beliefs.

Trump talks about making America great again, but I don't see how it was ever great, and I don't see how an administration focused on discrimination and oppression will make it great. Taking away women's reproductive rights isn't great. Contaminating water isn't great. Telling an entire religion of peaceful people that they do not belong here isn't great. It's awful, in fact.

This country is supposed to be about equality and acceptance. It's supposed to be about celebrating diversity. It's supposed to be about human rights. Yet we have a president who would rather take those things away, supposedly out of safety and morality.

But he's not doing anything to actually make us safe, and he's definitely not moral. What's moral about saying you can do whatever you want to a women's body? What's moral about having a Vice President who believes in conversation therapy, as well as a Secretary of Education whose family donates to organizations that believe in conversation therapy?

What's moral about turning away Syrian refugees and leaving them to die? That doesn't sound very pro-life to me.

What's moral about one of the most powerful people in the world throwing temper tantrums on Twitter?

Okay, maybe that's not immoral. It's just pathetic.

The good news is that the trend of history is always moving upward. There will be setbacks. There will be times where progression feels much too far away. But one day, this country will actually be great. The ideals outlined in the Constitution will actually be reflected by the ideologies of the American people.

It's just up to us to make it so.

I still believe I'm fortunate for living in the United States. It gives me the freedom to speak about Trump this way. It allows me to vote, despite being a woman. It gives me peace of mind during Donald Trump's presidency, as checks and balances will hopefully stop the country from falling into chaos.

But we still have a long way to go.

***

If you're feeling disheartened regarding Trump's presidency, visit this site: 99 Ways to Fight Trump.