Every single day of my life, I wake up and thank the good Lord above that I am an American. We live in a country with such freedom, so many rights and so many opportunities that it is truly a blessing that this is where I get to live my life. That is something that down until the very end, I will be thankful for. Regardless of what happens, who is in power, or what anyone might choose to do in our country.
I am a young Republican. So of course, today, I'm beyond ecstatic about our party's victory in the Presidential election, and in both the races for House and Senate. It's a good day. I woke up this morning, rolled over to check my social media, and I was flabbergasted.
The number of posts I saw shaming people who voted for Donald Trump, calling us racist, sexist, homophobic bigots with no regard for anyone but ourselves, truly shocked me. So many people disrespecting and bashing their friends and family just because of the way they voted in this election. People I cherish and respect, telling me that because I voted for Trump, it means I don't know how to love myself or others or this country. The same people who, just 48 hours ago, were preaching about how Republicans needed to accept Trump's "inevitable" loss gracefully. People who are now going back on their word, and evidently forgetting how to practice what they preach.
I like to think of myself as a very loving and accepting person. I cherish a lot of different people in my life from different backgrounds, religions, nationalities, races. My dad's side of my family is from Japan, a minority. I appreciate everything about my friends and family that sets them apart from me. Differences are what make us who we are. So to be told that just because I voted a certain way, a vote that I made on an educated basis of my personal beliefs and values, that I'm a horrible person and "what's wrong with this country?" Broke my heart. Personal attacks like that dig deep, and it's a good thing that I have thick skin.
But as heartbreaking as that was for me, that isn't even the part that devastates me the most. What truly rips me apart is the fact that SO many people are saying that they have "never been more embarrassed to be an American."
Seriously? OK, I understand the election didn't turn out the way you thought it was going to and you're angry. But are you honestly forgetting why you even had the right to vote? Or the right to say the things you're saying right now, things that are so cruel and hypocritical and hurtful, but that you're allowed to say anyway? It's because of hundreds of thousands of people who have died so you can do so. Americans who gave their lives, the ultimate sacrifice, so that you could turn around and spit on their memory.
As much as I didn't want Obama to be president when he was elected, and as much as I wouldn't have wanted Hillary Clinton to be president, I never in a million years would have said that either of those things made me embarrassed to be an American. We live in a place where people just like you and I, stand up and lay down their lives in order to protect us from places and people who want to take away our rights. I have family, friends and loved ones who don't hesitate to put on a badge and a gun every day. They expect no thanks, no gratitude, no recognition. All that they do, they do out of pure love for our country and the want to protect us and to protect the people that then turn around and say they're embarrassed by this country.
That is so heartbreaking to me. Disrespect me, disrespect me personally, disrespect my choices and my values if you want to. But don't you dare disrespect the lives of the people that were given so you could do so. We are so unbelievably privileged to live in a country where we have even the tiniest say in our government, regardless of the oppression you might experience. So before you go to say that you're "ashamed to be American," again, keep in mind that others elsewhere have it much, much worse. And please, for the sake of the families and loved ones of those who gave their lives, check your privilege.
