After this divisive election season, the last thing our country needs is more hate.

Yes, the two main candidates for president, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, were infamously known to voters as the most disliked candidates in American history but that does not mean the electorate must inherently dislike each other based on who they voted for. Everyone, no matter who you voted for, if your candidate won or not, must approach the next few years with a sense of respect for each other.

This starts by de-escalating the tensions which rose immediately after the election. In short, don’t be sore winners and losers. It is no secret that whoever’s side won would be outwardly proud and those on the losing side would be deeply upset, so please have some empathy in these first few weeks.

Donald Trump supporters, do not act like your candidate did not incite violence and mass protests if Hillary Clinton had won. You would be doing the same thing upset Clinton supporters and Trump opposers would be doing, and some would argue that some of you had done the same when President Obama was elected in both 2008 and 2012. Do not condescend protesters, they are doing the most American thing in exercising their First Amendment rights. Political protest is the foundation of the United States and to discourage it, whether you agree with it or not, is undemocratic and unamerican.

These protesters are not “whiny little children” or “cry babies”. In most cases they are people who are scared. As Trump and some members of the Republican Party have demonstrated over the last election cycle, there is an intense opposition to Mexicans, Muslims, African Americans, women, and the LGBT+ community. They do not know if they will be deported, attacked, oppressed, or have their rights taken away. Even in the few days since President-Elect Donald Trump’s election victory, there have been violent physical and verbal attacks against people of color, Muslims, and the LGBT+ community. Just because you have not experienced or seen such acts does not mean they do not exist.

Minorities are scared by the rhetoric and actions from the right so, perhaps as your President-Elect’s supporters, you should try to uphold the promises Donald Trump made to Americans, that he would be a president for all people. If you see people making verbal or physical attacks against minorities like the ones I have mentioned, you should stand up against it because that is not what your candidate says he supports, that is not what you support, and that is not what America is.

Now, for Clinton supporters and Trump opposers, despite the fact that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, you must respect the current democratic process of the United States and recognize that Donald Trump is your president. However, do not be discouraged from protesting, it is your First Amendment right. On the other hand, do not skew your perception of those who voted for Donald Trump.

President-Elect Donald Trump and his campaign has been called fascist, racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and every other insult you can think of, but that does not mean, in any way shape or form that those who voted for him are any of those things. If you voted for Secretary Clinton, you must identify with the fact that you do not have to support every policy and action of your candidate in order to vote for them, so, you need to give the same respect to those who voted differently from you. Don’t spew blind hate onto your loved ones.

I know Clinton supporters and I know Trump supporters, and I can say that none of them wholeheartedly agree with whom they supported. Rather, they were faced with an impossible decision to choose between two candidates who, for the most part, did not represent them. I know that my Trump supporting family and friends did not vote Republican because their candidate has said and done some offensive and disturbing things, and I also know that my friends and family that supported Clinton did not vote for her in spirit of her corruption and promise of status-quo. We all voted for what we thought best for our country and we cannot take those votes back now, so we should move forward. Identifying with Republican ideals or having opposition to the political establishment does not warrant anyone to label you as a racist or a bigot or any other demeaning title, and, in the same respect, neither does identifying with Democratic ideals warrant you to be condescended.

In such a tumultuous time, we must not focus on what divides us but rather on what unites us.

We need everyone, and I mean everyone, to stand up to hate in these next few years. We need to vehemently oppose racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination of any kind. We need to support each other’s Constitutional rights to say what they like and protest what they don’t. We need to defend each other from the economic struggles we have or have not experienced. We need to be empathetic to those who are targeted for things about themselves they cannot change. We need to stop shaming people for their differences. We need to stop generalizing people based on a vocal and visible few. We need to recognize that not every member of a group is the same, no matter what that group is. We need to stop telling people to “get over” things we cannot imagine. We need to stop hate.

I will start this, and stick to my word by apologizing to anyone who felt like I was disappointed in them or upset by them for voting a certain way. I do not want you to feel guilty for doing what you perceive as the right thing to do, I would not want that treatment if the roles were reversed. Going forward, I hope we can establish a healthy, respectful dialogue in which we can all learn from each other. Until then, know that I love you no matter what and that I am proud of you. As was said in respect of free speech, and by someone on my Facebook feed, “I don't agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Now is a time for open minds and open hearts. Now is a time for political, social, and economic empathy. Now is a time for equality. Now is a time for trust and appreciation and community.

Now is a time for love.