An Open Letter to Everyone on My Timeline

For the past few days, I've been racking my brain, trying to understand how a man like Donald Trump has been elected to be the next leader of the free world. It doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make sense to me that half the country voted for someone who appears to carry such hate within them. In truth, I'm not too worried about Trump, I believe he said a lot of horrible things to appeal to people who think a lot of horrible things about other people.

I am weary of his followers, though. As we have seen since the election results were announced, Trump supporters around the country have been running rampant spreading the hate that has been welling up within them for so long. Since Trump is the president-elect, these closet racists have been emboldened and have become outwardly racist. They are committing thuggish acts of violence towards various people of color around the country. This is what minorities mean when they say they are fearful.

To my Trump supporter friends, hear me out. I do not hate you. But don't tell me it's okay or to get over it. We are not living the same life. We do not have the same life experiences and in large part, it is because of the color of our skin. I don't have the luxury of "not worrying" about if some stranger will say something derogatory towards me or act out against me because of who I am. Because of who God made me.

To my Christian, Trump supporter friends, quit telling me that God is in control, of course He is. That doesn't mean that my life isn't in danger (endangered). God always has and always will be in control, but that doesn't mean that everything will be "okay" for me. That doesn't mean that my quality of life won't decrease. I completely believe that He has good planned for me but the Bible even tells us that He allows those He loves to go through excruciatingly painful times, i.e the Jews being enslaved to the Egyptians and even Jesus Himself having to die on the Cross for our sins.

The main problem I have with you trying to quote scripture to me, as if I don't already know it, is that during the time of enslavement, here in the U.S, this very Bible was used as a mechanism to further oppress and silence my ancestors. That's what it feels like you're doing to me, to us. You want us to shut up and get over the results. You want us to make you feel comfortable, so you try to drown out our pleas to recognize our humanity by telling me that God knows what He's doing. No one can argue with that, it's true. But it's not helpful. You are not telling me this out of a place of genuine concern and love, you are doing it so that I won't complain, and that's the problem.

I understand that not every Trump supporter is racist, xenophobic, and misogynist to say the least, but some of you are. It is not simply enough to have minority, gay, or Muslim friends/family. That doesn't make you not a racist, that just makes you someone with minority, gay, or Muslim friends or family.

I respect your right to vote for whoever you think is best. It's just that the person you voted for doesn't see the value in my life and it's hard to tell if you don't either. If you truly love me, approach me in that way. Talk to me. Help me understand your view. I may not agree but I don't want this to drive a wedge between us.

To my friends who are just a grieved as I am, take heart. We are going to be the change that we want to see, we have no other option. We are resilient and we will make it through this, together.

To my Christian friends who are just as grieved as I am, don't let the enemy use this to turn you. We still have a duty to uphold our beliefs. We can't be ugly to those we don't agree with, we must approach them with love, even if it's tough love. Take a look at Esther 4:14 and apply it to us. Who knows, maybe we have been chosen for such a time as this. Maybe we have been chosen to be the light and fight for what's right simultaneously. You can be conservative and still have a heart for people who believe, look, and act different from you. God has called us to do just that.

To all, don't lose hope. On 11/9/2016, hate won but we MUST combat that with love. We will overcome.