He started out as a complete joke. I laughed out loud when I heard he was running for president. With each forward step of his campaign, it got a little less funny. The more momentum and support he gained, the scarier Donald Trump got. Now he’s the Republican nominee, with a very real shot of becoming the leader of the United States of America. This man could possibly become the single most politically powerful individual in the nation, the leader of the free world.
And I can’t help but to think... How are people not terrified? How can people not see history repeating itself right before our eyes?
Donald Trump wants all Muslims in the country to register with the government, eerily mirroring WWII Germany. I have co-workers, classmates and friends who are Muslim, who would be mandated to notify the government of their religion. Will my Christian friends have to register as Christian? Will they receive special identification? What about my Jewish friends? Will they be forced to register with the government, or would that be too sensitive a topic to pursue?
Islam is not a threat. I can say that with confidence. Islam is not a violent religion. When someone acts with irrational violence in the name of Jesus, we brand them as mentally ill. When someone acts similarly in the name of Allah, our nation is so quick to turn on an entire group of people. Islam is not the problem. Muslim people are not the problem. Bad people whose actions are fueled by hatred of other groups of people are the problem. We cannot become just another group fueled by hatred and fear. And maybe you don’t care about this policy since you yourself are not Muslim.
Donald Trump is also against immigration, which blows my mind. This country is made of immigrants. If we were all true bred Americans, we’d be members of the Native American race that white immigrants killed and displaced upon arriving to this land that had already been discovered and inhabited. Would Donald Trump be deporting his wife, too? For a country that prides itself on being a “melting pot,” it would be completely hypocritical to literally build a wall to keep people out that are in pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.
People are internalizing this message and using immigrants as a scapegoat. The message is so incredibly strong, despite it’s irrationality, that I actually know immigrants who consider themselves to be American who are against immigration. And maybe you don’t care about this policy because you yourself are not an immigrant.
Donald Trump has not stood for the Black Lives Matter movement, condoning the brutality that’s honing in on black men in our nation. The danger is so real that I personally know people who are simply afraid to go out in public and function in their everyday lives, which is not what our country claims to stand for. By not standing for change, we enable this brutality to keep occurring. And maybe you don’t care because you yourself are not black.
Maybe you don’t care because it’s not you. Not yet.
Just hold on to hope that, if Donald Trump takes office, there are still people left to stand up when it's your turn.
