I was going to write about the impact Japanese anime has had on how I deal with my moments of loneliness. I was going to deeply describe the nurturing characteristics that come with watching a teenager kill people by writing their names in a notebook to create a new “benevolent” world where he is a God. I was really going to do that and totally nerd out about something I have genuine interest in. But then the election happened.
Who am I? I am Michael, a 20-year-old boy born in the Dominican Republic who came to New York around when he was about two-years-old, and for the first time voted for the President of the United States. There’s a lot of people like me who live in this country. Those that have found the US to be a place they can call home away from their homelands. This is a special place but I will admit that for my short time being an adult I have been very cynical of this country. I have grown to be grateful for the experiences I have had but it took some time. And until recently I have been thinking about the “cultural melting pot” that is used as a hyperbole that America is a nation of immigrants. There’s lot of reason to say otherwise but it’s dead-ass true.
The vast perspectives of culture and walks of life are truly what make this country so great to live in. Probably half the things I know are because I learned from them another culture outside my own. So much knowledge is gained everyday from talking to the people around you and when all these people are so different from one another you end up with a culturally diverse, (hopefully) informed population. However, how did Trump win? How did a man who largely got his vote from the bottom of the barrel rural white guy who may believe that “the South will rise again” win the presidency from a nation of immigrants?
You won’t find an answer here. I’m not smart enough to figure it out nor have the proper mindset to solve that puzzle. What I will say though: I love this country and the people in it. If had stayed in the Dominican Republic, I would not be half the person I am today and I would probably never have watched anime, so I’m doubly grateful.
At 3:11am, the day after Election Day, I am writing about why I didn’t talk about anime and instead talking about how much I appreciate America. I didn’t plan this, but the election happened and for the first time in my adult life I feel like I had to say something. Thank you for reading this, hopefully I’m still in this country and not deported when this is published.
