November 8th, 2016 I watched the polls just like the rest of America. I bit my nails in absolute fear of the aftermath. Our country was already divided, because of the election and regardless of who won, there was going to be an uproar. I prayed that Donald would not win, for my own sake. People look up to the president, and even if you think that we don’t, we do. We look to our president to represent us, to be poised, graceful, respectable and amiable. We do not want to feel directly and personally attacked by our president. That is something that has never really happened before and what makes this particular election result so different. I have to watch and live with the aftermath of people thinking that their actions are valid because it is “Trump’s America now.” I will not stand for it.
As an African American woman in this country, after watching the election and putting in my vote I am scared and fearful of the fact that Donald Trump now is the representative of this already great nation. As a child I was taught that voting is important, goodness always prevails and racism was over. Now as a young woman, I have realized otherwise and have seen the cracks of these as I grew older. My issue is not with Donald Trump, my issues lie at what he represents. The fact that he has offended every minority group, makes it abundantly clear that our concerns are not with change and progression of these communities. We are taking several steps back. We are a divided nation because we do not discuss these issues. As a country, we do not like to talk about issues like black lives matter, the LGBTQ community and our issues with race and now all these things are exposed. We would all like to believe that racism does not exist anymore in my generation, but I am here to tell you it is still here.
I fear for my safety in this country and I have never thought I would have to fear that. I am not really concerned about “outside” threats coming in. I am more fearful of our inner hate and that is what we are conveniently ignoring.
What some people do not realize is that though they may not claim to be a racist, but still have prejudices. The fear of the progression of many communities I feel steered a lot of people in Trump’s direction. He got people to vote for them by appealing to their fear. I am not saying all Trump supporters are racists and sexist, I know many of my friends thought that he was the lesser of two evils, but I want those people who made that decision to understand that this is now my worst nightmare, that Donald Trump is a figure for my torture and anger. I want people to understand that I know some problems don’t affect them because they are not a minority, but they still need to understand them. If people felt that America was different after Trump was elected, they are right, but the discrimination and oppression are not a new case for my people, this has been “my America,” but only now it is amplified. At least before I felt a little safer and there was not someone driving home the idea that it is appropriate to feel this way.
Now that the election is over we all should have learned a few things. First, our votes do in fact matter, so do not waste them. As a young person, I didn’t feel that I had much power, but it is a right that people before me have fought for, so I am going to use it. Secondly, I learned that we need to educate ourselves on politics and acknowledge our social issues. Now that this has been chosen, remember your rights. This is still a democracy and we still have the ability to stand up for what we believe in and that is what makes our country great. We must use our power for the goodness of ourselves and for each other. I want now more than ever to take control of change. I want now more than ever for my voice and the voices of others to be heard. In “Trump’s America,” I want change. That is what is going to help me sleep at night and get us all through the next four years.
