Your privilege is showing, but I'm here to fix that for you.

Before I begin, I want to warn you that I'm not going to hold back. As much as I want to write "I acknowledge your opinion and respect it," or "this isn't a personal attack on you," I just can't. Why? Because it's much more than just an opinion.

The article I'm responding to can be found at this link if anyone cares to read or respond, like myself. As much as I don't want to give this article more publicity, I feel it's only fair.

I remember reading this article and sending a screenshot of it to my girlfriend when it was first posted on Odyssey. Since this was before I became a creator, all I could do at the time was converse about it and express my distaste for it. Now, I can finally say to you how this makes myself, and other minorities all across the U.S. feel. I want you to know that my words in this post will carry anger, pain, frustration, and sadness that first began to stem in November of 2016.

To you, this was an election, but for us? This was a battle for our lives.

One thing I need to say is that if you are not a minority, then you will never know what it's like to be a minority. The author claims that people look at her differently for a sticker on her laptop, BUT PEOPLE LOOK AT ME DIFFERENTLY EVERY DAY FOR THE WAY I WAS BORN. With melanin-enriched skin and curly hair, I write this to you to in hopes that you realize that you can choose who you vote for, you cannot choose how you are born. You willingly voted for Trump, I did not willingly choose to be a minority. You can take that sticker off your laptop, I cannot take the skin off of my body.

If you begin to say that this isn't a race thing, know you're wrong.

It is a race thing when leaders of the Ku Klux Klan endorse Donald Trump. It is a race thing when people are yelling to "build a wall" at people who some, mind you, were born here. You think your vote does not affect us directly, but you are wrong.

It's a race thing, it's a poor thing, it's a women thing, it's a gay thing, it's a minority thing. Why? Because the person you voted for has in some way, shape, or form, verbally attacked or enacted laws that undermine or make it difficult for anyone in that category to live their life the way they should be able to.

To you, and everyone who believes that this election was a not a big deal. You will never understand what it's like to apply for a job and get rejected because of your name. What it's like to walk into an elevator and see someone clutch their bag. To be judged for having a natural hairstyle like dreadlocks, or to battle with yourself for years because society does not idolize you; they idolize those who have oppressed you. If you don't understand the message yet, it's that if you voted for Trump and boast about it, it is taken as a personal attack on who we are as a people.

You may not believe everything Trump has said, but when you vote for him, we take it as you ignoring every terrible and dividing thing he has said. Ignoring every problem that people who do not look like you face because you do not face them. That is where your privilege plays a part in this, and I want you to know that we will not stand for it.

Now, I can't necessarily be mad at you for not understanding. As it's recognizable by your article that you have not faced the same trials that I have growing up based on my skin, I cannot be mad simply because you are different than I am. That, in my opinion, is morally wrong. What I can be mad about though, is that judging by your article, you seem not to care about anyone else's problems in this country besides your own. Because as I just stated, if you voted for this person, then we take it as you ignoring every single thing he has said or done to damage a community of people.

I cannot respect your vote because your vote does not respect me. As much as I'm all for loving one another, respecting one another, and working out our differences, I cannot say that to you. As you continue to proudly show the Trump sticker on your laptop, I will proudly show the "F*** Trump" button on my book bag.

Besides you, know that every person who yells his name, boasts a sticker, shows off a shirt, or proudly holds a sign with his name, is launching a personal attack on whoever is a victim of his disgusting words and actions.

So, I invite you, and anyone for that matter, to respond to this article. I want to know your opinion so that I can remind you of the role you play in the oppression of minorities all across the U.S. I will make it my job on behalf of everyone who feels the same way I do, to remind you of how we feel. Sadly, it is not a burden that I asked for, but it's a burden that I will carry like many others that you do not.

I'm angry, I'm a minority, and I'm tired of you, and every other Trump supporter's shit.

Even if you do not show it intentionally, know that I will not stand for your ignorance. It would be a crime on behalf of every minority who feels the same way I do, and myself, if I let this go any longer. For centuries, anyone who has not fit the idolized category of White, Christian, heterosexual, and privileged (in that order) has had to deal with the pain of oppression. It's time we spoke up, and it's time you understand.

Sincerely,

A Minority