I am terrified.
When I woke up on the morning of Nov. 9 and found out who won the presidency, I began to cry hysterically. And this is not because I'm being dramatic or have anything against Donald Trump. But to award, someone of that kind of character with the highest respected position in the country is a scary thing.
As a woman, I am scared to live in a place where sexual assault allegations are rewarded to such a high degree. I am afraid to live in a place where racism is preached, where the LGBTQ community could possibly have the rights they worked so hard to obtain so easily diminished. I am afraid to live in a place where Islamophobia exists at such a large scale.
So excuse me if I'm not happy with the results, but these are American citizens' rights we're talking about.
I am not going to blatantly deny the fact that Donald Trump will be our next President. I will accept it because there is no point in claiming that he's "not my president" when the votes have been counted and he is, in fact, our next President.
However, I will not respect him. Respect is earned, not given, and through his campaign, he has insulted me and many other American people. Why should I respect him if he cannot respect us?
After having a day to heal from the results, it's important that we as a people move forward together.
Without our cooperation, the government simply couldn't be. So even if you don't respect Trump, the least we can do is hear him out. Cooperate with the government. Do all that we can do to keep America great, and somehow that will be enough.
Humayun's Tomb (New Delhi) | Humayun's tomb is a complex of … | Flickr
