I am at a loss for words. I have deleted my Facebook app from my phone in order to escape this election for a few days. I have been sent into panic attacks that have forced me to not leave my house. I am baffled. I am scared. I have something to say.
Donald Trump is not my president.
That statement likely angers some of you who are reading this article.
I've heard cries of, "You should respect him. He's the leader of this country. Stop whining." However, where was this rhetoric when President Obama was elected? Eight years in the White House. No scandals, no mistresses, a decrease in the unemployment rate. And yet many people refused to accept him as "their" president because he is Black.
So, no. I will treat Donald Trump with the same exact disrespect with which you treated President Obama for the last eight years. The only difference is that my disrespect is within good reason.
Yes, we should respect differing points of view from other people. Were this any other election, I would completely agree. My candidate lost? No big deal. Congratulations to the other candidate and may they rule this country with pride. However, if the opposing candidate's entire platform is centered around ideals that are detrimental to my well being, I have every right to be upset and terrified. When the KKK is happy about the result of the election, I have every right to be terrified for my friends of color. When the new Vice President has voiced his belief that the "gay" can be electrocuted out of a teen, and, consequently, we will see an increase in LGBTQ suicides, I have every right to be terrified for my LGBTQ friends. We have a serious problem when our new president's platform has his followers believing they can post tweets like this:
or the KKK appears on a bridge in Mebane, North Carolina, or when this video (VERY sensitive material) surfaces, showing that Trump supporters believe his platform embraces their radical views.
So, no. Donald Trump is not my president. I don't have to respect him because he has proved time and time again that he does not respect me. If you voted for him, I do not have to respect you because you've shown me that you could not care less about if I am sexually harassed, assaulted, or murdered. In other words, if you voted in order to perpetuate my oppression and the oppression of my loved ones, I will not respect you because there is nothing to respect.
Donald Trump is not my president.
