I’m not supportive of Trump. That being said though, I respect everyone’s decision of voting for him. I know genuine, amazing people who voted for him last Tuesday. Everyone has his or her own opinion, and that opinion should be respected even if it conflicts with your own views or morals. America right now is divided, and we need to come together to make America truly great again.

Growing up in Washington, I was raised liberal. I was told that I should treat everyone equally no matter what; and that’s what I did. We learn in history class of the suppression every group of people who were not white men faced during the development of America. We learn of the racism and sexism that these groups faced for hundreds of years. Slavery was abolished in 1865. Women obtained the right to vote in 1920. African Americans earned the right to vote in 1965 – 100 years after slavery ended. Interracial marriage became legal in 1967. Same sex marriage was legalized in 2015. This is not everything that America has accomplished since its founding, but it shows the long timeline of how long it took people in the “Land of the Free” to actually be free.

It has happened. Donald Trump is president. Despite his sexist and racist remarks, he has become the 45^th President of the United States. There have been anti-Trump rallies and protests I’ve actually witnessed. But protesting is not going to change the fact that he was elected.

The U.S. is very partisan and polarized; most people lean one way or another. Partisan voters vote for their party, rather than the candidate. They want to keep their party in power, since majority of the party shares similar views. But it has also been observed that if the candidate has different views on certain issues, for instance Social Security, voters have been known to change their views on Social Security to agree with their party, rather than voting for a different candidate that shares their views. People are also unpredictable. A person can say they are voting for one candidate, and vote for the other on the real day of the election because they are afraid to be honest on their views. People are sensitive, and sometimes hiding your views is easier than causing controversy in friendships and between family members.

People are sensitive. This is why we have the Electoral College; to save ourselves from making rash decisions on our emotions. The Electoral College votes on behalf of us, but without the citizens having pure democracy. Having a pure democracy could cause mob rule and chaos between the general public. They make the final decision on voting in our best interest.

We need to respect the way the Electoral College voted on behalf of us. They believed that Trump would be a better president over Hillary Clinton. Now, even though majority of citizens do not agree with this, there is nothing that can be done about it now. If people continue to throw rallies and protests against Trump, crime will rise, the economy will bust, and suppression of minorities will harm our nation. We need to come together as democrats, republicans, independents, whites, blacks, Asians, Mexicans, men, women, gay, straight, rich, and those in poverty, in order to make this country run. If we all come to together, our nation will be able to run a little more smoothly as it is. That means that people need to respect issues that the opposite party is for like equality and a smaller welfare state. Even if you disagree with some of the things that Donald Trump has spoken about or said, you have to think of the opinions of people who felt these same emotions for when Hillary Clinton spoke.

America is divided. Our country will no longer prosper if we keep clunking along like we have been. We need to come together as citizens in order to make this country work. We need to be respectful of others’ opinions and morals, because that’s equality. It is our right as Americans to express our opinions and have our own opinions. If you disagree with this, you are adding to the fire that will bring America down.