So, Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States of America. Well, I must say, we were not quite united with this election. It has been so 50/50 this entire time that there is no way everyone can be happy at this moment in time. Hillary Clinton has spent years trying to gain the presidential title, and honestly, I’m happy it wasn’t her.
However, that doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with Trump’s victory.
Between the two of the candidates, I felt that Trump could protect our military better and wouldn’t sacrifice them as Clinton has in the past, but I don’t feel that he can protect the rest of the country either. Racists, sexists, and homophobes have brought their voices into this election by mostly supporting Trump, and that scares me.
What does this mean for my LGBTQ friends? What about my little cousin who is going to grow up with this man as our commander and chief? What is going to happen to me, my family, and my friends who are all part of minorities?
Two of my friends, a Chilean and an African American, were discussing with me earlier how unsafe they feel now that racism is at a peak right now. They are fearful for themselves about what Trump is going to do to them and their families, whether they will be threatened to move despite being completely legal. They were especially worried about me. I’m a small, physically weak girl without knowledge of self-defense. Am I at a greater risk of being assaulted or attacked because the actions of our new president on women has been released? I’m scared that someone may think, “If he can do it, why can’t I?”
I don’t want to believe that our country will go backward in its progress towards new rights. The acceptance of gay marriages is still new to the U.S. Will it be suddenly canceled?
We used to be known as "The Great American Melting Pot", and now we may burn that title and deport immigrants who are only looking for better lives?
Women have been fighting for equality for so long. Will our battle have been for naught?
A president with vast ideals and incredibly opinionated statements has appeared. We cannot allow it to destroy who we are as a people. Let no rights just granted be canceled. Let no long-term battles be frozen until another time. We need to keep moving forward toward the lives that we imagined for ourselves. We need to become a country that can accept those that live in it, no matter whether they’re female or male, black or white, gay or straight. These are such old arguments that have every ability to be solved in our modern time.
Let’s set a better future for our younger siblings, cousins, and children.
To truly “make America great again” let’s not allow a president to knock us off balance or lose sight of our futures.
Whether Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or even Gary Johnson, we as a people have a right to our own opinions. We may not like the majority decision, and we may have trouble along the way because of that choice. But it’s only four years.
The most dangerous part of this entire election and the four years ahead of us are the citizens that can’t control their opinions. Violent protests and harmful individual attacks are possibly scarier than whoever was elected. These are the people that I fear when I leave my home for school.
Just like high school rules, respect everyone in the classroom. The U.S. needs to start respecting the opinions and ideals of everyone within it if we ever want to be happy with something so critical to our society.
As our Pledge of Allegiance states, we are “one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
