In case you have been living under a rock since last Tuesday, Donald Trump will become the next President of the United States of America after defeating Hillary Clinton in last week's election. This outcome came as a shock to many, from news broadcasters, to Hillary supporters, and even some Trump supporters. But what came as an even greater shock to me was the incredibly negative reaction to the outcome of the election.

I completely understand not liking a candidate and being upset that your candidate did not win, however, that does not justify the way that some liberals responded to this election. I saw people reacting as if the entire world is going to end because of one president. People posting online saying things like "He is not MY president", "I don't know how I am going to tell my kids" or even classifying all white people as racists, homophobic, and many other false generalizations.

My responses to those statements above are 1) If you are an American citizen, whether you like it or not, he is, in fact, your president and he became so fairly and legally. 2) How you tell your kids is simple, you tell them the candidate who won the election, won the election. It is not that hard. 3) Classifying all white Trump supporters as any type of -ist or -ic you can think of is not only false, but it is also extremely contradictory because the same people saying these things were the ones who attacked Trump for some of the generalizations he made during his campaign.

What angered me the most was seeing college students at American University in Washington, D.C. burning the flag of the United States. Millions of brave men and women have fought and died to protect our country, and when angry liberal college kids think they are doing the right thing by destroying the most important symbol of our nation it is like a slap in the face to veterans, active military, and their families. There are so many other, more respectful, ways to express your opinion. Burning the flag doesn't make you look like a social justice hero, it makes you look like an ignorant ass.

I know I will never understand what it is like to be a minority and to be oppressed, I am a white conservative male, but what I am not is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, or anything else you can come up with to try to demean my character. I am a conservative because I believe the American dream can be achieved through hard work, I believe in the sacred gift of life, and I value our military.

Hillary did not lose the election because white men all voted against her (they didn't). She lost because she overestimated the number of blacks, gays, women, Latinos, and other minorities that would come out and vote for her instead of Trump. All the celebrity endorsements and social media support did not translate to actual votes, and that is how these elections are decided.

For far too long, political elites on both sides of the aisle who were just corrupted by lobbyists and special interest groups held the power, but Trump reversed all of that. Hillary Clinton is everything that American's did not want in a President. Her sketchy lies and corrupt actions did not resonate with many Americans.

A lot of people in this country were fed up with rising health care costs from Obamacare, or they liked that Trump was not afraid to speak his mind (even though his message at times was rude towards certain groups of people). Many people were afraid to admit that they planned on voting for Trump, and this led to Hillary dominating the pre-election polls. This "silent majority" sided with Trump, and won him the election.

The people of this country wanted to see change, they gave Obama eight years to get things right, and it didn't happen. With Clinton, Americans knew what they would be getting, Obama 2.0. With Trump, we may not know exactly what will happen, but what we do know is that there is potential for a better America.

Contrary to popular belief on Twitter, Trump is not going to suddenly strip the rights of minorities and the LGBTQ community. There are checks and balances for a reason, so things like that do not happen.

We are so incredibly blessed to live in a country where we can have a peaceful transition of power without wars breaking out and blood being shed.

For all of the people that talk about how they hate America or don't respect this country anymore, you can leave. This country will never get better if it is filled with people who do not want to be here. There is no law forcing anyone to live in the United States so if you are going to spew hatred towards your own country and disrespect its laws, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Our country needs help from every single citizen to correct the problems that we are facing, if you are not interested in helping solve the problems in our country, then don't expect to reap the reward when we finally get this thing figured out.

This is a time of great divide in our country and we need to come together now more than ever. Race has played a major role in the social unrest in America and it is important that we remember that before we are white or black or any color, we are Americans. Before we are straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, or any sexual preference, we are Americans. Before we are Christians, Muslims, Jews, or any religion, we are Americans. And before we are Americans, we are all humans, deserving of mutual respect. We are a nation founded on having differences and working through them. In Trump's acceptance speech he stated that he wants to be the President for ALL Americans, I know it might be hard but minorities must trust him and at least give him a shot. He can try all he wants to be a tolerant and accepting President, but if certain groups just will not respect him and have an open mind, nothing will get better. Rioting in the streets won't change the election. Burning flags won't change the election. Spreading hatred or ending friendships based on political differences won't change the election. It is time for those who have been acting with incredible disrespect and malcontent to grow up and accept the results of this election. We must come together as one United States to fix the issues in our country, and work together to make America great again.