My family moved to the United States from Iraq eight years ago in hopes of finding a welcoming, peaceful country that would give us room to grow and prosper as people. Today, I call the United States my home, and the only country in the world that I would pledge allegiance to. However, on November 9th, 2016, my country let me down. As a nation, we elected a man who represents all that my family and millions more ran away from in oppressive, discriminating nations.
Donald Trump wants to punish women for making decisions regarding their bodies.
Donald Trump mocked a reporter for his disability.
Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
Donald Trump announced his presidency by calling the majority of Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals.
There are hundreds of other offensive and ignorant things that have come out of his mouth since the start of the race, which you can read about here.
So, how did we as a nation that has moved past the Jim Crow era and based its entire Constitution on equal rights, vote for this man to be president? How did we decide that these hateful, racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, etc. comments and proposed threats are less dangerous than Hillary Clinton's dropped FBI investigation? The majority of pro-Trump Republicans who I have spoken to have said that they voted for his “economic policy” and “conservative values," but all that does is prove that those voters are living with enough privilege to not be scared every time they see a "Make America Great Again" hat and not worry for their safety under a president who has spoken out against their very existence.
But what do I know? I’m just a young liberal who’s overly sensitive and naive, right? Surely the violence that has been increasing against Muslims, African-Americans, and other minorities since he was voted for as president are just a coincidence, right? The truth is that, having lived in the South (Jacksonville, FL, to be specific) and seen the already existing hatred towards “the other” by conservatives there, I can only imagine how much it will worsen as hardcore Trump supporters feel that they now have a reason and an excuse to bully and attack minorities.
If a president has been caught on tape “joking” (as far as he claims) about sexual assault, dehumanizes women, and using minorities as scapegoats for everything that is wrong with the country, his supporters will think that their violent actions are excusable too. America voted (not as much as they did for Hillary though, just saying) for his bigotry and divisive values and we will reap what we sow. I hope that those of you who care about your fellow citizens that happen to not be straight, white men will stand in solidarity with them in the event that they are faced with bullying.
The next four years will be interesting, to say the least, but I have no doubt in my mind that the hate crimes are just now starting. All we can do is try to be kind to one another on a smaller scale. When it comes time to elect a new, actually qualified president, we must.
