On November 9th, 2016 the citizens of the United States of America received the news that the majority of the presidential election votes were in favor of Donald J. Trump. Take that as you will. I am not going to bash you or your opinions, but I personally do not stand behind this monster of a man who is going to be in charge of an entire country come January 20th, 2017.
However, I will admit that I am rather uneducated when it comes to politics. I am definitely not the go-to friend about any of this, nor do I have any answers. I am very open to hearing both sides of any argument. In fact, I'm fascinated with everyone's opinions and stream of thinking that differ from my own. I would like to share this article that I read and appreciate written by Trent Lapinski that outlines Trump's victory, directed towards hotheaded democrats.
When I think about the best president, I think it comes down to being the best human. And I'm sorry, I have not seen anything regarding Trump being a kind, caring, humble, or considerate human.
The morning I found out Trump won I laid in bed with my phone in hand, actually terrified for the first time ever of where I lived and my own identity. I am afraid to be who I am because of what this cold man has said to, and his actions towards, women. The TV commercial below outlines only a few words that have come out of Trump's mouth.
As much as I could go on and on about how horrible of a human I believe this man is, I will let you stumble upon your own articles that point out every single flaw. His vice president is no better. I could also go on about Mike Pence, but I'll just leave this nifty little article right here for you to look at on your own time. Right now, I want to tell you about my experience going to my LGBTQ Identities class the day after the election.
The LGBTQ+ community is a crowd I was not all that familiar with until I took this class as a general education course. I am now proud to say that I am an ally and I support this community with my heart and soul. This class is very supportive of each other, as well. Every class session is a lively discussion, and many of my fellow classmates actually educate me sometimes more than the course material.
The vibe of the classroom the day after the election was very depressing. We spent the class time talking about our thoughts and feelings on the new president when some things were shared that struck me hard. One African American female said she was considering skipping her classes for the day, just to avoid any conversation about it. She instantly regretted her decision of attending class at 8am when within the first five minutes several white students were openly saying the 'N' word and staring at her. After keeping her composure for as long as she could, she packed up and left class, but things didn't end there. The tension on the bus ride home was beyond real. She sat with her head down while she could feel the hatred glares burning holes in her body the entire ride.
Another female in my class could not even bring herself to speak about the topic until halfway through our time. She is a sister to a younger trans brother, and she bursted into tears with how terrified she is about what is going to happen to him in the future. She said he is very uncomfortable and scared for his own life that he will not communicate with anyone. He is now afraid to exist within his own identity.
Lastly, my professor informed my class that her friend in New York, in fact, was grabbed by the 'pussy' three separate times while she was using the subway. I'm sorry, but it was not even one whole day after the election and hatred is already happening.
Every time I go on social media I am presented with an abundance of hate crimes. I cannot believe my eyes with every story I come across. Just some examples to prove I am not "over exaggerating:" a female in Louisiana was brutally assaulted and her hijab was ripped off. A painted rock at the University of Michigan campus was painted with violent messages. I am not saying every person who voted for Trump is racist, homophobic, full of hatred, or what have you. But why do certain Trump supporters think this type of behavior is okay?
In the end, I don't think anyone is going to accomplish anything by saying mean things about the next president of the United States. He won, and that's that. The only thing we can do now is hope for the best and have faith in Donald Trump.
