The turnout of this election was much different than what I was expecting. I was awake watching the election polling results until about 11:00PM when I had a sense of who our next president was going to be. I felt a bit of anger, fear, curiosity, but mainly shock. It was hard to process that Donald Trump is our new president.
After months of debating with myself, I took it upon myself to vote for Hillary Clinton. She wasn’t the perfect presidential candidate I had in mind, but what appealed to me that Bernie Sanders (someone I highly support) would be very involved during her presidency. In addition, I always believed Hillary Clinton would be more likely to win; especially since many members of the Republican party withdrew their support of Trump, but I was wrong.
There is a lot of fear among American citizens right now, specifically the marginalized communities. What does this mean for the LGBT+ community? What does this mean for Hispanics and other racial minorities? What does this mean for women? Many have defended Trump’s statements and have said, “Actions speak louder than words.” However, Trump’s words felt just as loud (if not louder) than Hillary's "scandalous" actions; how could I believe this man would do ANY better than she would?
Regardless, today couldn’t have looked any better or worse than what anyone expected. Protests/riots have sparked across the country, social media was full of political memes and people debating. It was a mix of amusing and disappointing. It was great to see so many people exercising their right freedom of speech and expression, but there were many disappointing things that I saw that just fueled a bit to my irritation.
One day before the election, I read that Colin Kaepernick was not voting in the presidential election. Someone who has protested the justice system and who has influenced many people in America REFUSED to vote. Not only did it seem very hypocritical, but I knew this would possibly convince more minorities not to vote. If you want change, you must vote. Regardless if Trump won by electoral votes, you should want your voice to be heard; even if it is for a third-party candidate.
On that note, I’ve seen many democrats blame third-party voters for the outcome of this election and I am surprised. Yes, this would have been beneficial if those voters preferred Hilary, but there are people who strongly opposed both candidates. It’s better to see them vote than to not vote at all, or be added to the 15,000 people who wrote in Harambe. It also allows millennials to see that there is another option other than the two main political parties.
Overall, I’m disappointed to see how this day turned out, but what especially disappoints me is to see how people are treating each other. As important as it is to be involved in politics with voting, we can let it run our lives. We slander each other because of our personal views, and as unsatisfied I maybe with this election, I realize that people are insensitive enough to each other. We call each other degrading names and insult each other’s intelligence as if that’s going to make a difference. Instead of attacking each other personally, we need to learn that it is sometimes best to agree to disagree. If we’re protesting we should not resort to violence, because that will NOT allow our voices to be heard. Remember, politics doesn’t raise children, pay your bills, or wake you up daily (unless maybe you’re a politician); YOU do. You can always create change in your community in addition to voting and regardless of who is president, but you must be willing to do it.
